THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

DAVIS 


i^cntruortl)  iMjcn 


WORKS.    Newly  arranged.   7  vols.  izmo,  each,  $2.00. 

1.  CHEERFUL  YESTERDAYS. 

2.  CONTEMPORARIES. 

3.  ARMY  LIFE  IN  A  BLACK  REGIMENT. 

4.  WOMEN  AND  THE  ALPHABET. 

5.  STUDIES  IN  ROMANCE. 

6.  OUTDOOR  STUDIES;   AND  POEMS. 

7.  STUDIES  IN  HISTORY  AND  LETTERS. 
Large-Paper  Edition,  7  vols,  $21.00,  net, 

TRAVELLERS    AND   OUTLAWS.     i6mo,  $1.50. 
THE    PROCESSION   OF  THE   FLOWERS.     $1.25. 
THE     AFTERNOON     LANDSCAPE.       Poems    and 

Translations.    $1.00. 

THE    MONARCH    OF   DREAMS.     i8mo,  50  cents. 
WENDELL   PHILLIPS.     4to,  paper,  25  cents 
MARGARET    FULLER   OSSOLI.     In  the  American 

Men  of  Letters  Series.     i6mo,  $1.25. 
HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW.     In  American  Men  of 

Letters  Series.    $1.10,  net,  postage  extra. 


EDITED   WITH  MRS.   E.   H.  BIGELOW. 
AMERICAN    SONNETS.     i8mo,  $1.25. 

HOUGHTON,   MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY, 
BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK. 


9^SL,  , 


American  open  of  Setter** 


HENRY  WADSWORTH 
LONGFELLOW 


BY 


THOMAS  WENTWORTH  HIGGINSON 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 


1902 


COPYRIGHT,    1902,   BY   THOMAS   WENTWORTH   HIGGINSON 
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 


Published  October,  1902 


PREFACE 

A  LIFE  of  Longfellow  has  been  from  the  be- 
ginning included  in  the  plan  of  the  "American 
Men  of  Letters  "  series,  but  it  has  been  delayed 
through  a  variety  of  causes.  Like  all  memoirs 
of  this  poet,  it  must  rest  partly  on  the  material 
amply  furnished  by  the  "Life"  so  admirably 
prepared  by  his  brother  sixteen  years  ago,  yet  it 
may  be  well  to  explain  that  the  present  volume 
will  be  found  marked  by  three  especial  char- 
acteristics of  its  own.  First,  much  additional 
material  is  here  drawn  from  the  manuscript 
correspondence  of  the  first  Mrs.  Longfellow, 
received  from  her  family  and  bearing  upon  the 
poet's  early  married  years  and  first  visit  to 
Europe,  during  what  was  undoubtedly  the  for- 
mative period  of  his  life.  Secondly,  there  is  a 
good  deal  of  material  obtained  from  the  manu- 
script volumes  known  as  the  "  Harvard  Col- 
lege Papers  "  and  preserved  at  the  University 
Library,  elucidating  the  academical  side  of 


IV  PREFACE 

Longfellow's  life.  Thirdly,  there  is  a  series  of 
extracts  from  his  earlier  writings,  dating  from 
college  days  and  not  hitherto  brought  together, 
but  showing  the  origin  and  growth  of  his  life- 
long desire  to  employ  American  material  and  to 
help  the  creation  of  a  native  literature ;  the 
desire  which  had  its  final  fulfilment  in  "  Evan- 
geline  "  and  "  Hiawatha."  These  three  sources 
will  be  found,  if  the  author  is  not  mistaken, 
to  have  afforded  distinct  contributions  to  our 
previous  knowledge  as  to  Longfellow's  char- 
acter and  work. 

T.  W.  H. 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  LONGFELLOW  AS  A  CLASSIC     ....  1 

II.  BIRTH,  CHILDHOOD,  AND  YOUTH  .        .        .  11 

III.  FIRST  FLIGHTS  IN  AUTHORSHIP       ...  21 

IV.  LITERATURE  AS  A  PURSUIT  ....  37 
V.  FIRST  VISIT  TO  EUROPE 45 

VI.  MARRIAGE  AND  LIFE  AT  BRUNSWICK  .        .  59 

VII.  THE  CORNER  STONE  LAID         ....  67 
VIII.  APPOINTMENT    AT    HARVARD    AND    SECOND 

VISIT  TO  EUROPE        .....  81 

IX.  ILLNESS  AND  DEATH  OF  MRS.  LONGFELLOW  .  107 

X.  CRAIGIE  HOUSE 116 

XI.  HYPERION  AND  THE  REACTION  FROM  IT     .  124 

XII.  VOICES  OF  THE  NIGHT 137 

XIII.  THIRD  VISIT  TO  EUROPE      ....  149 

XIV.  ANTI-SLAVERY    POEMS    AND   SECOND   MAR- 

RIAGE       163 

XV.  ACADEMIC  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE  .        .        .  176 

XVI.  LITERARY  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE      .        .        .  188 
XVII.  RESIGNATION  OF  PROFESSORSHIP — TO  DEATH 

OF  MRS.  LONGFELLOW.        .        .        .        .  202 

XVIII.  BIRDS  OF  PASSAGE 213 

XIX.  LAST  TRIP  TO  EUROPE 219 

XX.  DANTE   ....  225 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

XXI.  THE  LOFTIER  STRAIN  :  CHRISTUS  .        .        .  236 

XXII.  WESTMINSTER  ABBEY 248 

XXIII.  LONGFELLOW  AS  A  POET         ....  258 

XXIV.  LONGFELLOW  AS  A  MAN      ....  278 

APPENDIX 297 


HENRY  WADSWORTH 
LONGFELLOW 


CHAPTER  I 

LONGFELLOW   AS   A   CLASSIC 

THE  death  of  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow 
made  the  first  breach  in  that  well-known  group 
of  poets  which  adorned  Boston  and  its  vicinity 
so  long.  The  first  to  go  was  also  the  most 
widely  famous.  Emerson  reached  greater  depths 
of  thought ;  Whittier  touched  the  problems  of 
the  nation's  life  more  deeply ;  Holmes  came  per- 
sonally more  before  the  public ;  Lowell  was  more 
brilliant  and  varied ;  but,  taking  the  English- 
speaking  world  at  large,  it  was  Longfellow  whose 
fame  overshadowed  all  the  others ;  he  was  also 
better  known  and  more  translated  upon  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  than  all  the  rest  put  together, 
and,  indeed,  than  any  other  contemporary  poet  of 
the  English-speaking  race,  at  least  if  bibliogra- 
phies afford  any  test.  Add  to  this  that  his  place 
of  residence  was  so  accessible  and  so  histo'ric,  his 


2      HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

personal  demeanor  so  kindly,  his  life  so  open  and 
transparent,  that  everything  really  conspired  to 
give  him  the  highest  accessible  degree  of  contem- 
porary fame.  There  was  no  literary  laurel  that 
was  not  his,  and  he  resolutely  declined  all  other 
laurels ;  he  had  wealth  and  ease,  children  and 
grandchildren,  health  and  a  stainless  conscience ; 
he  had  also,  in  a  peculiar  degree,  the  blessings 
that  belong  to  Shakespeare's  estimate  of  old  age, 
—  "  honor,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends." 
Except  for  two  great  domestic  bereavements,  his 
life  would  have  been  one  of  absolutely  unbroken 
sunshine  ;  in  his  whole  career  he  never  encoun- 
tered any  serious  rebuff,  while  such  were  his 
personal  modesty  and  kindliness  that  no  one 
could  long  regard  him  with  envy  or  antago- 
nism. Among  all  the  sons  of  song  there  has 
rarely  been  such  an  instance  of  unbroken  and 
unstained  success. 

Yet  the  fact  that  his  death  took  place  twenty 
years  ago  may  justly  raise  the  question  how  far 
this  wave  of  success  has  followed  his  memory,  or 
how  far  the  passage  of  time  has  impaired  his 
traditional  influence ;  and  here  we  must  compare 
a  variety  of  tests  and  standards  to  ascertain  the 
result.  Some  analysis  of  this  kind  may  well  pre- 
cede any  new  attempt  to  delineate  his  career. 

The  editor  of  one  of  the  great  London  week- 
lies said  to  an  American  traveller  not  many  years 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A   CLASSIC  3 

ago,  "A  stranger  can  hardly  have  an  idea  of 
how  familiar  many  of  our  working  people,  espe- 
cially women,  are  with  Longfellow.  Thousands 
can  repeat  some  of  his  poems  who  have  never 
read  a  line  of  Tennyson  and  probably  never 
heard  of  Browning."  This  passage  I  take  from 
an  admirable  recent  sketch  by  Professor  Ed- 
win A.  Grosvenor  of  Amherst  College,  one  of 
the  most  cosmopolitan  of  Americans,  who  spent 
seven  years  as  professor  of  history  at  Robert 
College,  Constantinople.  He  goes  on  to  tell 
how,  in  the  largest  private  library  in  the  Otto- 
man Empire,  the  grand  vizier  showed  him  as  his 
favorite  book  a  large  volume  of  Longfellow,  full 
of  manuscript  comments  in  Turkish  on  the  mar- 
gin, adding  that  he  knew  some  of  the  poems  by 
heart.  Professor  Grosvenor  was  at  one  time  — 
in  1879  —  travelling  by  steamer  from  Constan- 
tinople to  Marseilles  with  a  Russian  lady  who 
had  been  placed  under  his  escort,  and  whose  na- 
tionality could  have  been  detected  only  by  her 
marvellous  knowledge  of  half  a  dozen  languages 
beside  her  own.  A  party  of  passengers  had 
been  talking  in  French  of  Victor  Hugo,  when 
the  Russian  lady  exclaimed  in  English  to  the 
last  speaker,  "  How  can  you,  an  American,  give 
to  him  the  place  that  is  occupied  by  your  own 
Longfellow  ?  Longfellow  is  the  universal  poet. 
He  is  better  known,  too,  among  foreigners,  than 


4      HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

any  one  except  their  own  poets !  "  She  then 
repeated  the  verses  beginning,  "  I  stood  on  the 
bridge  at  midnight,"  and  added,  "  I  long  to  visit 
Boston,  that  I  may  stand  on  the  bridge."  Then 
an  "English  captain,  returning  from  the  Zulu 
war,  said,  "  I  can  give  you  something  better  than 
that,"  and  recited  in  a  voice  like  a  trumpet, — 

"  Tell  me  not,  in  mournful  numbers, 
Life  is  but  an  empty  dream." 

Presently  a  gray-haired  Scotchman  began  to  re- 
cite the  poem,  — 

"  There  is  no  flock,  however  watched  and  tended, 
But  one  dead  lamb  is  there !  " 

An  American  contributed  "  My  Lost  Youth," 
being  followed  by  a  young  Greek  temporarily 
living  in  England,  who  sang  "  Stars  of  the  Sum- 
mer Night."  Finally  the  captain  of  the  steamer, 
an  officer  of  the  French  navy  detailed  for  that 
purpose,  whom  nobody  had  suspected  of  knowing 
a  word  of  English,  recited,  in  an  accent  hardly 
recognizable,  the  first  verse  of  "  Excelsior,"  and 
when  the  Russian  lady,  unable  to  understand 
him,  denied  the  fact  of  its  being  English  at  all, 
he  replied,  "  Ah,  oui,  madame,  c,a  vient  de  votre 
Longfellow  "  (Yes,  madam,  that  is  from  your 
Longfellow).  Six  nationalities  had  thus  been 
represented,  and  the  Russian  lady  said,  as  they 
rose  from  the  table,  "  Do  you  suppose  there  is 
any  other  poet  of  any  country,  living  or  dead, 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A   CLASSIC  5 

from  whom  so  many  of  us  could  have  quoted  ? 
Not  one.  Not  even  Shakespeare,  or  Victor 
Hugo,  or  Homer." l 

One  has  merely  to  glance  at  any  detailed 
catalogue  of  the  translations  from  Longfellow's 
works  —  as  for  instance  that  given  in  the  ap- 
pendix to  this  volume  —  to  measure  the  vast  ex- 
tent of  his  fame.  The  list  includes  thirty-five 
versions  of  whole  books  or  detached  poems  in 
German,  twelve  in  Italian,  nine  each  in  French 
and  Dutch,  seven  in  Swedish,  six  in  Danish,  five 
in  Polish,  three  in  Portuguese,  two  each  in 
Spanish,  Kussian,  Hungarian,  and  Bohemian, 
with  single  translations  in  Latin,  Hebrew,  Chi- 
nese, Sanskrit,  Marathi,  and  Judea-German  — 
yielding  one  hundred  versions  altogether,  ex- 
tending into  eighteen  languages,  apart  from  the 
original  English.  There  is  no  evidence  that  any 
other  English-speaking  poet  of  the  last  century 
has  been  so  widely  appreciated. 

Especially  is  this  relative  superiority  notice- 
able in  that  wonderful  literary  cyclopedia,  the 
vast  and  many-volumed  catalogue  of  the  British 
Museum.  There,  under  each  author's  name,  is 
found  not  merely  the  record  of  his  works  in 
every  successive  edition,  but  every  secondary  or 
relative  book,  be  it  memoir,  criticism,  attack, 
parody,  or  translation ;  and  it  is  always  curious 
1  N.  Y.  Independent,  October  22,  1896. 


6      HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

to  consider  the  relative  standing  of  American 
and  English  authors  under  this  severe  and  in- 
exorable test.  The  entries  or  items  appearing 
in  the  interleaved  catalogue  under  the  name  of 
Tennyson,  for  instance,  up  to  September,  1901, 
were  487  ;  under  Longfellow,  357 ;  then  follow, 
among  English-writing  poets,  Browning  (179), 
Emerson  (158),  Arnold  (140),  Holmes  (135), 
Morris  (117),  Lowell  (114),  Whittier  (104), 
Poe  (103),  Swinburne  (99),  Whitman  (64). 
The  nearest  approach  to  a  similar  test  of  appre- 
ciation in  the  poet's  own  country  is  to  be  found 
in  the  balloting  for  the  new  Hall  of  Fame,  estab- 
lished by  an  unknown  donor  on  the  grounds  of 
the  New  York  University  with  the  avowed  object 
of  creating  an  American  Westminster  Abbey. 
The  names  of  those  who  were  to  appear  in  it 
were  selected  by  a  board  of  one  hundred  judges 
carefully  chosen  from  men  of  all  occupations 
and  distributed  over  every  State  in  the  Union ; 
and  these  balloted  for  the  first  hundred  occu- 
pants of  the  Hall  of  Fame.  Only  thirty-nine 
names  obtained  a  majority  of  votes,  these  being 
taken,  of  course,  from  men  of  all  pursuits ;  and 
among  these  Longfellow  ranked  tenth,  having 
eighty-five  votes,  and  being  preceded  only  by 
Washington,  Lincoln,  Webster,  Franklin,  Grant, 
Marshall,  Jefferson,  Emerson,  and  Fulton.  Be- 
sides Emerson  and  Longfellow,  only  two  literary 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A   CLASSIC  7 

men  were  included,  these  being  Irving  with 
eighty-four  votes  and  Hawthorne  with  seventy- 
three. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  when  the  tempo- 
rary leader  in  any  particular  branch  of  literature 
or  science  passes  away,  there  is  often  visible  a 
slight  reaction,  perhaps  in  the  interest  of  sup- 
posed justice,  when  people  try  to  convince  them- 
selves that  his  fame  has  already  diminished. 
Such  reactions  have  notably  occurred,  for  in- 
stance, in  the  cases  of  Scott,  Byron,  Wordsworth, 
and  even  of  Burns,  yet  without  visible  or  perma- 
nent results,  while  the  weaker  fame  of  Southey 
or  of  Campbell  has  yielded  to  them.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  up  to  the  present  moment  no  seri- 
ous visible  reaction  has  occurred  in  the  case  of 
Longfellow.  So  absolutely  simple  and  truthful 
was  his  nature  and  so  clear  the  response  of  the 
mass  of  readers,  that  time  has  so  far  left  his 
hold  upon  them  singularly  unaffected.  During 
a  recent  visit  to  England,  the  author  of  this 
volume  took  some  pains,  in  every  place  he  visited 
in  city  or  country,  to  inquire  of  the  local  book- 
seller as  to  the  demand  for  Longfellow's  poems, 
and  the  answer  was  always  in  substance  and 
sometimes  in  express  words,  "  He  is  a  classic," 
—  in  other  words,  his  books  had  a  steady  and 
trustworthy  sale.  I  always  found  his  poems  on 
the  shelves,  and  this  was  true  of  no  other  Amer- 


8      HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

ican  poet.  Several  editions  of  his  works,  single 
or  collective,  had  recently  appeared  in  London. 
Poems  newly  set  to  music  had  lately  been  pub- 
lished at  the  music  stalls,  and  familiar  cita- 
tions from  his  poems  were  constantly  heard  in 
public  speeches.  Inquiries  similar  to  mine  were 
made  a  few  years  since  in  the  book-stores  of 
Switzerland  and  Germany  by  my  friend,  Pro- 
fessor W.  J.  Kolfe,  who  found  without  diffi- 
culty the  German  and  English  text  of  single  or 
collected  poems  by  Longfellow  at  Nuremberg, 
Cologne,  Strasburg,  Lucerne,  Interlaken,  and 
elsewhere. 

Another  form  of  obtaining  statistics  bearing 
on  the  relative  position  of  Longfellow  among 
English-writing  poets  would  be  to  inspect  books 
of  selections  made  in  Great  Britain  out  of  this 
class.  I  find  two  such  lying  near  at  hand ;  the 
first  is  "  Pen  and  Pencil  Pictures  from  the 
Poets,"  published  by  William  P.  Nimmo  at 
Edinburgh,  containing  fifty-six  poems  in  all, 
each  with  a  full-page  illustration,  generally  by 
Scottish  artists.  Of  these  selections,  six  are 
taken  from  Longfellow,  five  each  from  Words- 
worth and  Thomson,  and  three  each  from 
Shakespeare,  Burns,  and  Moore.  Of  other 
American  poets  Bryant  and  Willis  alone  appear, 
each  with  one  contribution.  Another  such  book 
is  "  Words  from  the  Poets ;  selected  for  the  use 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A   CLASSIC  9 

of  parochial  schools  and  libraries."  To  this  the 
leading  contributors  are  Wordsworth  (twenty- 
one),  Longfellow  (eighteen),  Cowper  (eleven), 
and  Tennyson  (nine),  the  whole  number  of  con- 
tributors being  forty-three.  Such  statistics  could 
be  easily  multiplied;  indeed,  it  will  be  readily 
admitted  that  no  American  poet  can  be  com- 
pared to  Longfellow  in  the  place  occupied  by 
his  poems  in  the  English  market.  Readily  ad- 
mitting that  this  is  not  the  sole  or  highest 
standard,  it  must  at  least  be  recognized  as  one  of 
the  side  tests  by  which  that  standard  may  be 
determined. 

Some  occasional  expressions  of  distrust  as  to 
Longfellow's  permanent  fame  have  been  based 
wholly  upon  his  virtues.  Many  still  cling  to 
Dryden's  maxim, "  Great  wits  are  sure  to  mad- 
ness near  allied.  "  Those  who  grew  up  during 
the  period  when  the  Lake  poets  of  England 
were  still  under  discussion  can  well  recall  that 
the  typical  poet  was  long  supposed  to  be  neces- 
sarily something  of  a  reprobate,  or  at  any  rate 
wild  and  untamable  ;  so  that  Byron  and  Shelley 
gained  in  fame  by  the  supposition  that  the  do- 
mestic and  law-abiding  gifts  were  far  from  them. 
The  prominence  of  Wordsworth  was  developed 
in  spite  of  this  tradition,  and  even  when  the 
report  cheered  some  of  his  would-be  admirers 
that  he  had  once  been  intoxicated  at  the  uni- 


10     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

versity,  it  was  damped  by  the  opinion  expressed 
by  Theodore  Hook  that  "  Wordsworth's  concep- 
tions of  inebriation  were  no  doubt  extremely 
limited."  The  popular  impression  in  such  mat- 
ters is  too  deep  to  be  easily  removed  ;  and  yet 
every  test  continues  to  prove  that  the  hold  taken 
on  the  average  human  heart  by  Longfellow  is  far 
greater  than  that  held,  for  instance,  by  Poe  or 
Whitman.  This  was  practically  conceded  by 
those  poets  themselves,  and  it  is  this  fact  which 
in  reality  excited  the  wrath  of  their  especial  ad- 
mirers. No  man  ever  sacrificed  less  for  mere 
fame  than  Longfellow,  no  man  ever  bore  attack 
or  jealousy  with  more  of  manly  self-respect  and 
sweetness ;  he  simply  lived  his  own  life,  and 
worked  out  his  own  literary  method ;  all  that  he 
asked  was  to  be  taken  for  what  he  was  worth, 
and  the  world's  praise  was  the  answer  to  his 
request.  The  continuance  of  this  hold  on  men 
surely  affords  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  renewed 
study  of  this  poet's  life,  training,  and  career. 


CHAPTER  II 

BIRTH,  CHILDHOOD,  AND   YOUTH 

HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW  was  born 
in  Portland,  Maine,  February  27, 1807,  being  the 
son  of  Stephen  and  Zilpah  (Wadsworth)  Long- 
fellow, both  his  parents  having  been  descended 
from  Yorkshire  families  which  had  migrated  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  The  name  of  Long- 
fellow first  appears  in  English  records  as  Lang- 
fellay,  while  the  name  of  Wadsworth  sometimes 
appears  as  Wordsworth,  suggesting  a  possible 
connection  with  another  poet.  His  father, 
Stephen  Longfellow,  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
College  in  1794,  being  a  classmate  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
W.  E.  Channing  and  the  Hon.  Joseph  Story.  He 
became  afterward  a  prominent  lawyer  in  Port- 
land. He  was  also  at  different  times  a  member 
of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  Maine  being 
then  a  part  of  that  State  ;  a  member  of  the  cele- 
brated "  Hartford  Convention  "  of  Federalists  ; 
a  presidential  elector,  and  a  member  of  Con- 
gress. In  earlier  generations  the  poet's  grand- 
father was  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas ;  his  great-grandfather  was  a  graduate  of 


12     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

Harvard  College  in  1742,  and  was  afterward 
town  schoolmaster,  parish  clerk,  and  register 
of  probate ;  his  great-great-grandfather  was  a 
"  village  blacksmith ;"  and  his  ancestor  once  more 
removed,  the  American  founder  of  the  family, 
was  William  Longfellow,  who  was  born  in 
Hampshire  County,  England,  in  1651,  and  came 
in  early  life  to  this  country,  where  he  engaged 
in  mercantile  pursuits.  Thus  much  for  the 
paternal  ancestry. 

To  turn  to  the  "  spindle  side,"  Mr.  Longfel- 
low's mother  was  Zilpah  Wadsworth,  eldest 
daughter  of  General  Peleg  Wadsworth,  who  was 
the  son  of  Deacon  Peleg  Wadsworth,  of  Dux- 
bury,  Mass.,  and  was  the  fifth  in  descent  from 
Christopher  Wadsworth,  who  came  from  Eng- 
land and  settled  in  that  town  before  1632.  The 
Peleg  Wadsworth  of  military  fame  was  born  at 
Duxbury,  and  graduated  from  Harvard  in  1769  ; 
he  afterward  taught  school  at  Plymouth,  and  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Bartlett  of  that  town ;  he  then  took 
part  in  the  Revolution  as  captain  of  a  company 
of  minutemen,  and  rose  to  a  major-general's 
command,  serving  chiefly  on  the  eastern  fron- 
tier. He  was  captured,  was  imprisoned,  escaped, 
and  had  many  stirring  adventures.  When  the 
war  was  over  he  purchased  from  the  State  no  less 
than  7500  acres  of  wild  land,  and  spent  the  rest  of 
his  life  at  Hiram,  Maine,  representing  his  con- 


BIRTH,  CHILDHOOD,  AND  YOUTH      13 

gressional  district,  however,  for  fourteen  years 
in  the  national  Congress.  Through  the  Wads- 
worths  and  Bartletts,  the  poet  could  trace  his 
'  descent  to  not  less  than  four  of  the  Mayflower 
pilgrims,  including  Elder  Brewster  and  Captain 
John  Alden. 

Judge  Longfellow,  the  poet's  grandfather,  is 
described  as  having  been  "  a  fine-looking  gentle- 
man with  the  bearing  of  the  old  school ;  an  erect, 
portly  figure,  rather  tall ;  wearing,  almost  to  the 
close  of  his  life,  the  old-style  dress,  —  long  skirted 
waistcoat,  small-clothes,  and  white-topped  boots, 
his  hair  tied  behind  in  a  club,  with  black  rib- 
bon." General  Wadsworth  was  described  by 
his  daughter  as  "  a  man  of  middle  size,  well  pro- 
portioned, with  a  military  air,  and  who  carried 
himself  so  truly  that  men  thought  him  tall. 
His  dress  a  bright  scarlet  coat,  buff  small-clothes 
and  vest,  full  ruffled  bosom,  ruffles  over  the 
hands,  white  stockings,  shoes  with  silver  buc- 
kles, white  cravat  with  bow  in  front,  hair  well 
powdered  and  tied  behind  in  a  club,  so  called." 
The  poet  was  eminently  well  descended,  both 
on  the  father's  and  mother's  side,  according  to 
the  simple  provincial  standard  of  those  days. 

Stephen  Longfellow  and  his  young  wife  lived 
for  a  time  in  a  brick  house  built  by  General 
Wadsworth  in  Portland,  and  still  known  as  "  the 
Longfellow  house ; "  but  it  was  during  a  tern- 


14     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

porary  residence  of  the  family  at  the  house  of 
Samuel  Stephenson,  whose  wife  was  a  sister  of 
Stephen  Longfellow,  that  Henry  Wadsworth 
Longfellow  was  born.  He  was  the  second  son, 
and  was  named  for  an  uncle,  Henry  Wads- 
worth,  a  young  naval  lieutenant,  who  was  killed 
in  1804  by  the  explosion  of  a  fire-ship,  before 
the  walls  of  Tripoli.  The  Portland  of  1807 
was,  according  to  Dr.  Dwight, —  who  served  as  a 
sort  of  travelling  inspector  of  the  New  England 
towns  of  that  period,  — "  beautiful  and  bril- 
liant ; "  but  the  blight  of  the  Embargo  soon  fell 
upon  it.  The  town  needed  maritime  defences 
in  the  war  of  1812,  and  a  sea-fight  took  place 
off  the  coast,  the  British  brig  Boxer  being  cap- 
tured during  the  contest  by  the  Enterprise,  and 
brought  into  Portland  harbor  in  1813.  All  this 
is  beautifully  chronicled  in  the  poem  "  My  Lost 
Youth:"- 

*'  I  remember  the  sea-fight  far  away, 
How  it  thundered  o'er  the  tide  ! 
And  the  dead  captains,  as  they  lay 
In  their  graves,  o'erlooking  the  tranquil  bay 
Where  they  in  battle  died. 

And  the  sound  of  that  mournful  song 
Goes  through  me  with  a  thrill ; 
'  A  boy's  will  is  the  wind's  will, 
And  the  thoughts  of  youth  are  long,  long  thoughts.'  " 

Here  Henry  Longfellow  spent  his  childhood 
and  youth.  Much  of  that  strong  aversion  to 


BIRTH,   CHILDHOOD,  AND   YOUTH      15 

war  which  pervades  the  poet's  verses  may  un- 
doubtedly be  charged  to  early  association  with 
his  uncle's  death. 

The  imaginative  side  of  his  temperament  has 
commonly  been  attributed  to  his  mother,  who 
was  fond  of  poetry  and  music,  and  a  lover  of 
nature  in  all  its  aspects ;  one  who  would  sit  by 
a  window  during  a  thunderstorm,  as  her  young- 
est son  has  testified,  "  enjoying  the  excitement 
of  its  splendors."  She  loved  the  retirement  of 
a  country  life,  and  found  in  it,  in  her  own  lan- 
guage, "  a  wonderful  effect  in  tranquillizing  the 
spirit  and  calming  every  unpleasant  emotion." 
She  played  the  spinet  until  her  daughter's  piano 
replaced  it,  and  apparently  read  Cowper,  Han- 
nah More,  and  Ossian  with  her  children.  She 
sent  them  early  to  school,  after  the  fashion 
of  those  days ;  this  experience  evidently  begin- 
ning for  Henry  Longfellow  at  three  years  of 
age,  when  he  went  with  a  brother  of  five  to  a 
private  school  where  he  learned  his  letters. 
After  several  experiments,  he  was  transferred,  at 
the  tolerably  early  age  of  six,  to  the  Portland 
Academy.  At  this  age,  his  teacher,  Mr.  Carter, 
wrote  of  him, "  Master  Henry  Longfellow  is  one 
of  the  best  boys  we  have  in  school.  He  spells 
and  reads  very  well.  He  also  can  add  and  mul- 
tiply numbers.  His  conduct  last  quarter  was 
very  correct  and  amiable."  He  began  early  to 


16     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

rhyme,  and  the  first  poem  of  his  composing 
which  is  known  to  be  preserved  in  manuscript 
is  entitled,  "  Venice,  an  Italian  Song,"  and  was 
dated  Portland  Academy,  March  17,  1820,  he 
being  then  barely  thirteen.  There  appeared  a 
little  later,  in  the  poets'  corner  of  the  Portland 
"  Gazette,"  the  following  verses,  which  show 
curiously,  at  the  very  outset,  that  vibration  be- 
tween foreign  themes  and  home  themes  which 
always  marks  his  verse  :  — 

THE  BATTLE  OF  LOVELL'S  POND 

Cold,  cold  is  the  north  wind  and  rude  is  the  blast 
That  sweeps  like  a  hurricane  loudly  and  fast, 
As  it  moans  through  the  tall  waving1  pines  lone  and  drear, 
Sighs  a  requiem  sad  o'er  the  warrior's  bier. 

The  war-whoop  is  still,  and  the  savage's  yell 
Has  sunk  into  silence  along  the  wild  dell ; 
The  din  of  the  battle,  the  tumult,  is  o'er, 
And  the  war-clarion's  voice  is  now  heard  no  more. 

The  warriors  that  fought  for  their  country,  and  bled, 
Have  sunk  to  their  rest ;  the  damp  earth  is  their  bed ; 
No  stone  tells  the  place  where  their  ashes  repose, 
Nor  points  out  the  spot  from  the  graves  of  their  foes. 

They  died  in  their  glory,  surrounded  by  fame, 
And  Victory's  loud  trump  their  death  did  proclaim ; 
They  are  dead ;  but  they  live  in  each  Patriot's  breast, 
And  their  names  are  engraven  on  honor's  bright  crest. 

These  verses  cannot  be  assigned  to  the  domain 
of  high  art,  most  certainly,  but  they  mark  in  this 


BIRTH,   CHILDHOOD,  AND  YOUTH      17 

case  the  beginning  of  a  career,  and  milestones 
are  always  interesting.  It  was  Longfellow's  tirst 
poem,  and  he  chose  an  American  subject.  We 
know  from  him  the  circumstances  of  the  recep- 
tion of  this  youthful  effort.  When  the  morning 
paper  arrived  it  was  unfolded  and  read  by  his 
father,  and  no  notice  was  taken  of  the  effusion ; 
but  when,  in  the  evening,  the  boy  went  with  his 
father  to  the  house  of  Judge  Mellen,  his  father's 
friend,  whose  son  Frederic  was  his  own  play- 
mate, the  talk  turned  upon  poetry.  The  host 
took  up  the  morning's  "Gazette."  "Did  you 
see  the  piece  in  to-day's  paper  ?  Very  stiff.  Re- 
markably stiff ;  moreover,  it  is  all  borrowed, 
every  word  of  it."  No  defence  was  offered.  It 
is  recorded  that  there  were  tears  on  the  young 
boy's  pillow  that  night. 

The  young  Henry  Longfellow  went  to  various 
schools,  as  those  of  Mrs.  Fellows  and  Mr.  Carter, 
and  the  Portland  Academy,  then  kept  by  Mr. 
Bezaleel  Cushman,  a  Dartmouth  College  gradu- 
ate. In  1821,  he  passed  the  entrance  examina- 
tions of  Bowdoin  College,  of  which  his  father  was 
a  trustee.  The  college  itself  was  but  twenty  years 
old,  and  Maine  had  only  just  become  an  inde- 
pendent State  of  the  Union,  so  that  there  was  a 
strong  feeling  of  local  pride  in  this  young  insti- 
tution. Henry  Longfellow's  brother,  Stephen, 
two  years  older  than  himself,  passed  the  exami- 


18     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

nations  with  him,  but  perhaps  it  was  on  account 
of  the  younger  brother's  youth  —  he  being  only 
fourteen  —  that  the  boys  remained  a  year  longer 
at  home,  and  did  not  go  to  Brunswick  until  the 
beginning  of  the  Sophomore  year.  Henry's  col- 
lege life  was  studious  and  modest.  He  and  Na- 
thaniel Hawthorne  were  classmates,  having  been 
friends  rather  than  intimates,  and  Hawthorne 
gives  in  his  "  Fanshawe  "  a  tolerably  graphic 
picture  of  the  little  rural  college.  Neither  of 
the  two  youths  cared  much  for  field  sports,  but 
both  of  them  were  greatly  given  to  miscellaneous 
reading;  and  both  of  them  also  spent  a  good 
deal  of  time  in  the  woods  of  Brunswick,  which 
were,  and  still  are,  beautiful.  Longfellow  pur- 
sued the  appointed  studies,  read  poetry,  was  fond 
of  Irving,  and  also  of  books  about  the  Indians, 
an  experience  which  in  later  life  yielded  him 
advantage. 

It  is  just  possible  that  these  books  may  have 
revived  in  him  a  regret  expressed  in  one  of  his 
early  college  letters  that  he  had  not  gone  to  West 
Point  instead  of  Bowdoin,  —  some  opportunity 
of  appointment  to  the  military  school,  perhaps 
through  his  uncle,  General  Wadsworth,  having 
possibly  been  declined  in  his  behalf.1  It  is  curi- 
ous indeed  to  reflect  that  had  he  made  this 

1  From  a  manuscript  letter  not  dated  as  to  year,  but  written, 
apparently,  while  he  was  a  freshman. 


BIRTH,   CHILDHOOD,  AND   YOUTH      19 

different  selection,  he  might  have  been  known  to 
fame  simply  as  Major-General  Longfellow. 

Hon.  J.  W.  Bradbury,  another  classmate,  de- 
scribes Henry  Longfellow  as  having  "a  slight, 
erect  figure,  delicate  complexion,  and  intelligent 
expression  of  countenance,"  and  further  adds : 
"  He  was  always  a  gentleman  in  his  deportment, 
and  a  model  in  his  character  and  habits."  Still 
another  classmate,  Rev.  David  Shepley,  D.  D., 
has  since  written  of  Longfellow's  college  course : 
"He  gave  urgent  heed  to  all  departments  of 
study  in  the  prescribed  course,  and  excelled  in 
them  all ;  while  his  enthusiasm  moved  in  the 
direction  it  has  taken  in  subsequent  life.  His 
themes,  felicitous  translations  of  Horace,  and  oc- 
casional contributions  to  the  press,  drew  marked 
attention  to  him,  and  led  to  the  expectation  that 
his  would  be  an  honorable  literary  career."  He 
spent  his  vacations  in  Portland,  where  the  soci- 
ety was  always  agreeable,  and  where  the  women, 
as  one  of  his  companions  wrote,  seemed  to  him 
"  something  enshrined  and  holy,  — •  to  be  gazed 
at  and  talked  with,  and  nothing  further."  In 
one  winter  vacation  he  spent  a  week  in  Boston 
and  attended  a  ball  given  by  Miss  Emily  Mar- 
shall, the  most  distinguished  of  Boston's  historic 
belles,  and  further  famous  as  having  been  the 
object  of  two  printed  sonnets,  the  one  by  Willis 
and  the  other  by  Percival.  He  wrote  to  his 


20     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

father  that  on  this  occasion  he  saw  and  danced 
with  Miss  Eustaphieve,  daughter  of  the  Russian 
consul,  of  whom  he  says,  "  She  is  an  exceedingly 
graceful  and  elegant  dancer,  and  plays  beauti- 
fully upon  the  pianoforte."  He  became  so  well 
acquainted  in  later  days  with  foreign  belles  and 
beauties  that  it  is  interesting  to  imagine  the  im- 
pression made  upon  him  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  by  this  first  social  experience,  especially  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  after  his  returning  from 
Europe,  he  records  of  himself  that  he  never 
danced,  except  with  older  ladies,  to  whom  the 
attention  might  give  pleasure. 


CHAPTER  III 

FIRST  FLIGHTS  IN  AUTHORSHIP 

IT  is  interesting  to  know  that  twice,  during 
his  college  days,  Longfellow  had  occasion  to 
show  his  essentially  American  feeling ;  first,  in 
his  plea  for  the  Indians  on  an  Exhibition  Day, 
and  again,  more  fully  and  deliberately,  in  his 
Commencement  Oration  on  "  Our  Native  Wri- 
ters." On  Exhibition  Day,  —  a  sort  of  minor 
Commencement,  —  he  represented,  in  debate,  an 
American  Indian,  while  his  opponent,  James  W. 
Bradbury,  took  the  part  of  an  English  emigrant. 
The  conclusion  of  the  exercise  summed  up  the 
whole,  being  as  follows  :  — 

"  Emigrant.  —  Is  it  thus  you  should  spurn  all 
our  offers  of  kindness,  and  glut  your  appetite 
with  the  blood  of  our  countrymen,  with  no  excuse 
but  the  mere  pretence  of  retaliation  ?  Shall  the 
viper  sting  us  and  we  not  bruise  his  head  ?  Shall 
we  not  only  let  your  robberies  and  murders  pass 
unpunished,  but  give  you  the  possession  of  our 
very  fireside,  while  the  only  arguments  you  offer 
are  insolence  and  slaughter  ?  Know  ye,  the  land 
is  ours  until  you  will  improve  it.  Go,  tell  your 


22     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

ungrateful  comrades  the  world  declares  the  spread 
of  the  white  people  at  the  expense  of  the  red  is 
the  triumph  of  peace  over  violence.  Tell  them 
to  cease  their  outrages  upon  the  civilized  world 
or  but  a  few  days  and  they  shall  be  swept  from 
the  earth. 

"  Savage.  —  Alas !  the  sky  is  overcast  with 
dark  and  blustering  clouds.  The  rivers  run  with 
blood,  but  never,  never  will  we  suffer  the  grass 
to  grow  upon  our  war-path.  And  now  I  do  re- 
member that  the  Initiate  prophet,  in  my  earlier 
years,  told  from  his  dreams  that  all  our  race 
should  fall  like  withered  leaves  when  autumn 
strips  the  forest !  Lo  !  I  hear  sighing  and  sob- 
bing :  't  is  the  death-song  of  a  mighty  nation, 
the  last  requiem  over  the  grave  of  the  fallen." l 

It  is  fair  to  conjecture  that  we  may  have  in 
this  boyish  performance  the  very  germ  of  "  Hia- 
watha," and  also  to  recall  the  still  more  youthful 
verses  which  appeared  in  the  Portland  "  Ga- 
zette." He  wrote  in  college  not  merely  such 
verses,  but  some  prose  articles  for  the  "  Ameri- 
can Monthly  Magazine,"  edited  in  Philadelphia, 
by  Dr.  James  McHenry,  who  in  his  letters 
praised  the  taste  and  talent  shown  in  the  article 
upon  "Youth  and  Age."  More  important  to 
the  young  poet,  however,  was  his  connection 
with  a  new  semi-monthly  periodical  called  the 

1  Every  Other  Saturday,  i.  21. 


FIRST  FLIGHTS  IN  AUTHORSHIP      23 

"United  States  Literary  Gazette."  This  was 
published  in  Boston  and  New  York  simulta- 
neously, having  been  founded  by  the  late  Theo- 
philus  Parsons,  but  edited  at  that  time  by  James 
G.  Carter,  of  Boston,  well  known  in  connection 
with  the  history  of  public  schools.  Apparently 
Longfellow  must  have  offered  poems  to  the 
"  Gazette "  anonymously,  for  one  of  his  class- 
mates records  that  when  he  met  Mr.  Carter  in 
Boston  the  editor  asked  with  curiosity  what 
young  man  sent  him  such  fine  poetry  from  Bow- 
doin  College.  A  modest  volume  of  "  Miscel- 
laneous Poems,  selected  from  the  '  United  States 
Literary  Gazette,'  "  appeared  in  1826,  —  the  year 
after  Longfellow  left  college,  —  and  it  furnished 
by  far  the  best  exhibit  of  the  national  poetry 
up  to  that  time.  The  authors  represented  were 
Bryant,  Longfellow,  Percival,  Dawes,  Mellen, 
and  Jones ;  and  it  certainly  offered  a  curious 
contrast  to  that  equally  characteristic  volume  of 
1794,  the  "  Columbian  Muse,"  whose  poets  were 
Barlow,  Trumbull,  Freneau,  Dwight,  Hum- 
phreys, and  a  few  others,  not  a  single  poem  or 
poet  being  held  in  common  by  the  two  collec- 
tions. 

This  was,  however,  only  a  volume  of  extracts, 
but  it  is  the  bound  volumes  of  the  "  Gazette  " 
itself  —  beginning  with  April  1,  1824  —  which 
most  impress  the  student  of  early  American 


24     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

literature.  There  will  always  be  a  charm  in 
turning  over  the  pages  where  one  sees,  again 
and  again,  the  youthful  poems  of  Bryant  and  of 
Longfellow  placed  side  by  side  and  often  put 
together  on  the  same  page,  the  young  under- 
graduate's effusions  being  always  designated  by 
his  initials  and  Bryant's  with  a  perhaps  more 
dignified  "  B.,"  denoting  one  whose  reputation 
was  to  a  certain  extent  already  established,  so 
that  a  hint  was  sufficient.  Bryant's  poems,  it 
must  be  owned,  are  in  this  case  very  much  better 
or  at  least  maturer  than  those  of  his  youthful 
rival,  and  are  preserved  in  his  published  works, 
while  Longfellow's  are  mainly  those  which  he 
himself  dropped,  though  they  are  reprinted  in 
the  appendix  to  Mr.  Scudder's  "  Cambridge  "  edi- 
tion of  his  poems.  We  find  thus  in  the  "  Liter- 
ary Gazette,"  linked  together  on  the  same  page, 
Longfellow's  "  Autumnal  Nightfall "  and  Bry- 
ant's "  Song  of  the  Grecian  Amazon  ;  "  Long- 
fellow's "  Italian  Scenery  "  and  Bryant's  "  To  a 
Cloud;"  Longfellow's  "Lunatic  Girl"  and 
Bryant's  "The  Murdered  Traveller."1  How 
the  older  poet  was  impressed  by  the  work  of 
the  younger  we  cannot  tell,  but  it  is  notice- 
able that  in  editing  a  volume  of  selected  Ameri- 
can poetry  not  long  after,  he  assigns  to  Long- 
fellow, as  will  presently  be  seen,  a  very  small 
1  United  States  Literary  Gazette,  I  237,  267,  286. 


FIRST  FLIGHTS  IN  AUTHORSHIP       25 

space.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Bryant  had 
previously  published  in  book  form,  in  1821,  his 
earliest  poems,  and  the  "  Literary  Gazette  "  it- 
self, in  its  very  first  number,  had  pronounced  him 
the  first  "  original  poet  formed  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic."  "  Our  pleasure  was  equalled  by 
our  surprise,"  it  says,  "  when  we  took  up  Bry- 
ant's poems,  listened  to  the  uncommon  melody 
of  the  versification,  wondered  at  the  writer's 
perfect  command  of  language,  and  found  that 
they  were  American  poems."  "Though  the 
English  critics  say  of  him,"  it  continues,  "  that 
their  poets  must  look  to  their  laurels  now  that 
such  a  competitor  has  entered  the  ring,  yet,  let 
him  remember  that  a  few  jousts  in  the  ring 
never  established  the  reputation  of  a  knight."  l 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  difference  in  actual 
quantity  of  poetic  production  between  the  older 
and  younger  poets  should  thus  have  been  un- 
consciously suggested  by  the  editor  when  Long- 
fellow was  but  seventeen. 

With  Bryant  and  Longfellow,  it  would  there- 
fore seem,  the  permanent  poetic  literature  of  the 
nation  began.  "  The  Rivulet "  and  "  The  Hymn 
of  the  Moravian  Nuns  "  appeared  in  the  "  Ga- 
zette" collection,  and  have  never  disappeared 
from  the  poetic  cyclopaedias.  The  volume  in- 
cluded fourteen  of  Longfellow's  youthful  effu- 

1  Literary  Gazette,  i.  8. 


26     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

sions,  only  six  of  which  he  saw  fit  to  preserve  ; 
dropping  behind  him,  perhaps  wisely,  the  "  Dirge 
Over  a  Nameless  Grave,"  "Thanksgiving," 
"  The  Angler's  Song,"  "  Autumnal  Nightfall," 
"  A  Song  of  Savoy,"  "  Italian  Scenery,"  "  The 
Venetian  Gondolier,"  and  "'The  Sea  Diver." 
He  himself  says  of  those  which  he  preserved 
that  they  were  all  written  before  the  age  of 
nineteen,  and  this  is  obvious  from  the  very  date 
of  the  volume.  Even  in  the  rejected  poems 
the  reader  recognizes  an  easy  command  of  the 
simpler  forms  of  melody,  and  a  quick  though 
not  profound  feeling  for  external  nature.  Where 
he  subsequently  revises  these  poems,  however, 
the  changes  are  apt  to  be  verbal  only,  and  all 
evidently  matters  of  the  ear.  Thus  in  reprint- 
ing "  The  Woods  in  Winter,"  he  omits  a  single 
verse,  the  following :  — 

"  On  the  gray  maple's  crusted  bark 

Its  tender  shoots  the  hoarfrost  nips ; 

Whilst  in  the  frozen  fountain  —  hark ! 

His  piercing  beak  the  bittern  dips." 

It  shows  the  gradual  development  of  the  young 
poet's  ear  that  he  should  have  dropped  this 
somewhat  unmelodious  verse.  As  a  rule  he 
wisely  forbore  the  retouching  of  his  early  poems. 
He  also  contributed  to  the  "  Gazette "  three 
articles  in  prose,  quite  in  Irving's  manner,  in- 
cluding a  few  verses.  All  these  attracted  some 


FIRST  FLIGHTS  IN  AUTHORSHIP      27 

attention  at  the  time.  Mr.  Parsons,  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  magazine,  was  thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  the  vigor  and  originality  of  the  young 
man's  mind,  and  informed  him  that  one  of  his 
poems,  "  Autumnal  Nightfall,"  had  been  attrib- 
uted to  Bryant,  while  his  name  was  mentioned 
in  the  "  Galaxy  "  on  a  level  with  that  of  Bryant 
and  Percival.  The  leadership  of  Bryant  was  of 
course  unquestioned  at  that  period,  and  Long- 
fellow many  years  after  acknowledged  to  that 
poet  his  indebtedness,  saying,  "  When  I  look 
back  upon  my  early  years,  I  cannot  but  smile 
to  see  how  much  in  them  is  really  yours.  It 
was  an  involuntary  imitation,  which  I  most 
readily  confess." 

Still  more  interesting  as  a  study  in  the  "  Lit- 
erary Gazette  "  itself  are  three  prose  studies,  dis- 
tinctly after  the  manner  of  Irving,  and  headed 
by  a  very  un-American  title,  "  The  Lay  Monas- 
tery." There  is  a  singular  parallelism  between 
this  fanciful  title  and  the  similar  transformation 
in  verse,  at  about  the  same  time,  in  the  "  Hymn 
of  the  Moravian  Nuns  "  at  the  consecration  of 
Pulaski's  banner.  As  in  that  poem  a  plain  Mo- 
ravian sisterhood,  who  supported  their  house  by 
needlework,  gave  us  an  imaginary  scene  amid 
a  chancel  with  cowled  heads,  glimmering  tapers, 
and  mysterious  aisles,  so  the  solitary  in  this 
prose  article  leads  us  into  the  society  of  an  old 


28     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

uncle  whose  countenance  resembles  that  of  Cosmo 
on  the  medallions  of  the  Medici,  who  has  been 
crossed  in  love,  and  who  wears  a  brocade  vest 
of  faded  damask,  with  large  sprigs  and  roses. 
The  author  thus  proceeds  in  his  description  of 
the  imaginary  uncle  and  the  marvellous  sur- 
roundings :  — 

"  When  my  uncle  beheld  my  childish  admira- 
tion for  his  venerable  black-letter  tome,  he 
fondly  thought  that  he  beheld  the  germ  of  an 
antique  genius  already  shooting  out  within  my 
mind,  and  from  that  day  I  became  with  him  as 
a  favored  wine.  Time  has  been  long  on  the 
wing,  and  his  affection  for  me  grew  in  strength 
as  I  in  years ;  until  at  length  he  has  bequeathed 
to  me  the  peculiar  care  of  his  library,  which 
consists  of  a  multitude  of  huge  old  volumes  and 
some  ancient  and  modern  manuscripts.  The 
apartment  which  contains  this  treasure  is  the 
cloister  of  my  frequent  and  studious  musings. 
It  is  a  curious  little  chamber,  in  a  remote  cor- 
ner of  the  house,  finished  all  round  with  painted 
panellings,  and  boasting  but  one  tall,  narrow 
Venetian  window,  that  lets  in  upon  my  studies 
a  '  dim,  religious  light,'  which  is  quite  appropri- 
ate to  them. 

"Everything  about  that  apartment  is  old 
and  decaying.  The  table,  of  oak  inlaid  with 
maple,  is  worm-eaten  and  somewhat  loose  in  the 


FIRST  FLIGHTS  IN  AUTHORSHIP      29 

joints ;  the  chairs  are  massive  and  curiously 
carved,  but  the  sharper  edges  of  the  figures  are 
breaking  away  ;  and  the  solemn  line  of  portraits 
that  cover  the  walls  hang  faded  from  black, 
melancholy  frames,  and  declare  their  intention 
of  soon  leaving  them  forever.  In  a  deep  niche 
stands  a  heavy  iron  clock  that  rings  the  hours 
with  hoarse  and  sullen  voice;  and  opposite,  in  a 
similar  niche,  is  deposited  a  gloomy  figure  in 
antique  bronze.  A  recess,  curtained  with  tap- 
estry of  faded  green,  has  become  the  cemetery  of 
departed  genius,  and,  gathered  in  the  embrace 
of  this  little  sepulchre,  the  works  of  good  and 
great  men  of  ancient  days  are  gradually  mould- 
ering away  to  dust  again."  l 

In  view  of  this  essentially  artificial  and  even 
boyish  style,  it  is  not  strange  that  one  of  his 
compositions  should  have  been  thus  declined  by 
the  eminently  just  and  impartial  editor  of  the 
"  North  American  Review,"  Jared  Sparks. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  I  return  the  article  you  were  so 
good  as  to  send  me.  In  many  respects  it  has  a 
good  deal  of  merit,  but  on  the  whole  I  do  not 
think  it  suited  to  the  "  Review."  Many  of  the 
thoughts  and  reflections  are  good,  but  they  want 
maturity  and  betray  a  young  writer.  The  style, 
too,  is  a  little  ambitious,  although  not  without 

1  United  States  Literary  Gazette,  i.  348. 


30     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

occasional  elegance.  With  more  practice  the 
author  cannot  fail  to  become  a  good  writer ;  and 
perhaps  my  judgment  in  regard  to  this  article 
would  not  agree  with  that  of  others  whose  opin- 
ion is  to  be  respected ;  but,  after  all,  you  know, 
we  editors  have  no  other  criterion  than  our  own 
judgment.1 

Nevertheless  the  young  aspirant  felt  more  and 
more  strongly  drawn  to  a  literary  life,  and  this 
found  expression  >in  his  Commencement  oration 
on  "Our  Native  Writers."  His  brother  and 
biographer,  writing  of  this  address  in  later 
years,  says  of  it,  "  How  interesting  that  [theme] 
could  be  made  in  seven  minutes  the  reader 
may  imagine,"  and  he  does  not  even  reprint  it ; 
but  it  seems  to  me  to  be  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing landmarks  in  the  author's  early  career,  and 
to  point  directly  towards  all  that  followed. 

OUR  NATIVE  WRITERS 

To  an  American  there  is  something  endear- 
ing in  the  very  sound,  —  Our  Native  Writers. 
Like  the  music  of  our  native  tongue,  when  heard 
in  a  foreign  land,  they  have  power  to  kindle  up 
within  him  the  tender  memory  of  his  home  and 
fireside ;  and  more  than  this,  they  foretell  that 
whatever  is  noble  and  attractive  in  our  national 
1  Life,  i.  60. 


FIRST  FLIGHTS  IN  AUTHORSHIP      31 

character  will  one  day  be  associated  with  the 
sweet  magic  of  Poetry.  Is,  then,  our  land  to  be 
indeed  the  land  of  song  ?  Will  it  one  day  be 
rich  in  romantic  associations  ?  Will  poetry,  that 
hallows  every  scene,  —  that  renders  every  spot 
classical,  —  and  pours  out  on  all  things  the  soul 
of  its  enthusiasm,  breathe  over  it  that  enchant- 
ment, which  lives  in  the  isles  of  Greece,  and  is 
more  than  life  amid  the  "  woods,  that  wave  o'er 
Delphi's  steep  "  ?  Yes  !  —  and  palms  are  to  be 
won  by  our  native  writers  !  —  by  those  that  have 
been  nursed  and  brought  up  with  us  in  the  civil 
and  religious  freedom  of  our  country.  Already 
has  a  voice  been  lifted  up  in  this  land,  —  already 
a  spirit  and  a  love  of  literature  are  springing 
up  in  the  shadow  of  our  free  political  institu- 
tions. 

But  as  yet  we  can  boast  of  nothing  farther 
than  a  first  beginning  of  a  national  literature : 
a  literature  associated  and  linked  in  with  the 
grand  and  beautiful  scenery  of  our  country,  — 
with  our  institutions,  our  manners,  our  customs, 
—  in  a  word,  with  all  that  has  helped  to  form 
whatever  there  is  peculiar  to  us,  and  to  the  land 
in  which  we  live.  We  cannot  yet  throw  off  our 
literary  allegiance  to  Old  England,  we  cannot 
yet  remove  from  our  shelves  every  book  which 
is  not  strictly  and  truly  American.  English  lit- 
erature is  a  great  and  glorious  monument,  built 


32     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

up  by  the  master-spirits  of  old  time,  that  had  no 
peers,  and  rising  bright  and  beautiful  until  its 
summit  is  hid  in  the  mists  of  antiquity. 

Of  the  many  causes  which  have  hitherto 
retarded  the  growth  of  polite  literature  in  our 
country,  I  have  not  time  to  say  much.  The 
greatest,  which  now  exists,  is  doubtless  the  want 
of  that  exclusive  attention,  which  eminence  in 
any  profession  so  imperiously  demands.  Ours 
is  an  age  and  a  country  of  great  minds,  though 
perhaps  not  of  great  endeavors.  Poetry  with 
us  has  never  yet  been  anything  but  a  pastime. 
The  fault,  however,  is  not  so  much  that  of  our 
writers  as  of  the  prevalent  modes  of  thinking 
which  characterize  our  country  and  our  times. 
We  are  a  plain  people,  that  have  had  nothing  to 
do  with  the  mere  pleasures  and  luxuries  of  life : 
and  hence  there  has  sprung  up  within  us  a  quick, 
sightedness  to  the  failings  of  literary  men,  and 
an  aversion  to  everything  that  is  not  practical, 
operative,  and  thoroughgoing.  But  if  we  would 
ever  have  a  national  literature,  our  native  writ- 
ers must  be  patronized.  Whatever  there  may 
be  in  letters,  over  which  time  shall  have  no 
power,  must  be  "  born  of  great  endeavors,"  and 
those  endeavors  are  the  offspring  of  liberal  pat- 
ronage. Putting  off,  then,  what  Shakespeare 
calls  "  the  visage  of  the  times,"  —  we  must  be- 
come hearty  well-wishers  to  our  native  authors : 


FIRST  FLIGHTS  IN  AUTHORSHIP      33 

—  and  with  them  there  must  be  a  deep  and 
thorough  conviction  of  the  glory  of  their  call- 
ing, —  an  utter  abandonment  of  everything 
else,  —  and  a  noble  self-devotion  to  the  cause  of 
literature.  We  have  indeed  much  to  hope  from 
these  things ;  —  for  our  hearts  are  already  grow- 
ing warm  towards  literary  adventurers,  and  a 
generous  spirit  has  gone  abroad  in  our  land, 
which  shall  liberalize  and  enlighten. 

In  the  vanity  of  scholarship,  England  has 
reproached  us  that  we  have  no  finished  scholars. 
But  there  is  reason  for  believing  that  men  of 
mere  learning  —  men  of  sober  research  and 
studied  correctness  —  do  not  give  to  a  nation 
its  great  name.  Our  very  poverty  in  this  respect 
will  have  a  tendency  to  give  a  national  character 
to  our  literature.  Our  writers  will  not  be  con- 
stantly toiling  and  panting  after  classical  allu- 
sions to  the  Vale  of  Tempe  and  the  Etrurian 
river,  nor  to  the  Roman  fountains  shall  — 

"  The  emulous  nations  of  the  West  repair 
To  kindle  their  quenched  urns,  and  drink  fresh  spirit  there.'* 

We  are  thus  thrown  upon  ourselves :  and 
thus  shall  our  native  hills  become  renowned  in 
song,  like  those  of  Greece  and  Italy.  Every  rock 
shall  become  a  chronicle  of  storied  allusions ; 
and  the  tomb  of  the  Indian  prophet  be  as  hal- 
lowed as  the  sepulchres  of  ancient  kings,  or  the 
damp  vault  and  perpetual  lamp  of  the  Saracen 
monarch. 


34     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

Having  briefly  mentioned  one  circumstance 
which  is  retarding  us  in  the  way  of  our  literary 
prosperity,  I  shall  now  mention  one  from  which 
we  may  ho*pe  a  happy  and  glorious  issue :  It  is 
the  influence  of  natural  scenery  in  forming  the 
poetical  character.  Genius,  to  be  sure,  must  be 
born  with  a  man  ;  and  it  is  its  high  prerogative 
to  be  free,  limitless,  irrepressible.  Yet  how  is  it 
moulded  by  the  plastic  hand  of  Nature !  how 
are  its  attributes  shaped  and  modulated,  when  a 
genius  like  Canova's  failed  in  the  bust  of  the 
Corsican,  and  amid  the  splendor  of  the  French 
metropolis  languished  for  the  sunny  skies  and 
vine-clad  hills  of  Italy  ?  Men  may  talk  of  sit- 
ting down  in  the  calm  and  quiet  of  their  libra- 
ries, and  of  forgetting,  in  the  eloquent  compan- 
ionship of  books,  all  the  vain  cares  that  beset 
them  in  the  crowded  thoroughfares  of  life  ;  but, 
after  all,  there  is  nothing  which  so  frees  us  from 
the  turbulent  ambition  and  bustle  of  the  world, 
nothing  which  so  fills  the  mind  with  great  and 
glowing  conceptions,  and  at  the  same  time  so 
warms  the  heart  with  love  and  tenderness,  as 
a  frequent  and  close  communion  with  natural 
scenery.  The  scenery  of  our  own  country,  too, 
so  rich  as  it  is  in  everything  beautiful  and  mag- 
nificent, and  so  full  of  quiet  loveliness  or  of  sub- 
lime and  solitary  awe,  has  for  our  eyes  enchant- 
ment, for  our  ears  an  impressive  and  unutterable 


FIRST  FLIGHTS  IN  AUTHORSHIP       35 

eloquence.  Its  language  is  in  high  mountains, 
and  in  the  pleasant  valleys  scooped  out  between 
them,  in  the  garniture  which  the  fields  put  on, 
and  in  the  blue  lake  asleep  in  the  hollow  of  the 
hills.  There  is  an  inspiration,  too,  in  the  rich 
sky  that  "  brightens  and  purples  "  o'er  our  earth, 
when  lighted  up  with  the  splendor  of  morning, 
or  when  the  garment  of  the  clouds  comes  over 
the  setting  sun. 

Our  poetry  is  not  in  books  alone.  It  is  in 
the  hearts  of  those  men,  whose  love  for  the 
world's  gain,  —  for  its  business  and  its  holiday, 
—  has  grown  cold  within  them,  and  who  have 
gone  into  the  retirements  of  Nature,  and  have 
found  there  that  sweet  sentiment  and  pure  de- 
votion of  feeling  can  spring  up  and  live  in  the 
shadow  of  a  low  and  quiet  life,  and  amid  those 
that  have  no  splendor  in  their  joys,  and  no  pa- 
rade in  their  griefs. 

Thus  shall  the  mind  take  color  from  things 
around  us,  —  from  them  shall  there  be  a  genu- 
ine birth  of  enthusiasm,  —  a  rich  development 
of  poetic  feeling,  that  shall  break  forth  in  song. 
Though  the  works  of  art  must  grow  old  and 
perish  away  from  earth,  the  forms  of  nature 
shall  keep  forever  their  power  over  the  human 
mind,  and  have  their  influence  upon  the  litera- 
ture of  a  people. 

We  may  rejoice,  then,  in  the  hope  of  beauty 


36     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

and  sublimity  in  our  national  literature,  for  no 
people  are  richer  than  we  are  in  the  treasures  of 
nature.  And  well  may  each  of  us  feel  a  glorious 
and  high-minded  pride  in  saying,  as  he  looks  on 
the  hills  and  vales,  —  on  the  woods  and  waters 
of  New  England,  — 

"  This  is  my  own,  my  native  land."  x 

1  First  printed  from  the  original  MS.  in  Every  Other  Satur- 
day, i.  116. 


CHAPTER  IV 

LITERATURE  AS  A  PURSUIT 

LONGFELLOW  graduated  at  Bowdoin  College 
in  June,  1825.  There  was  in  his  mind,  ap- 
parently, from  the  first,  that  definiteness  of  pur- 
pose which  is  so  often  wanting  when  a  student 
takes  his  first  college  degree.  There  was  for  him 
no  doubt  or  hesitation :  it  must  be  literature  or 
nothing ;  and  this  not  merely  from  a  preference 
for  the  pursuit,  but  from  an  ambition,  willingly 
acknowledged,  to  make  a  name  in  that  direction. 
He  writes  to  his  friend,  George  W.  Wells, 
"  Somehow,  and  yet  I  hardly  know  why,  I  am 
unwilling  to  study  any  profession.  I  cannot  make 
a  lawyer  of  any  eminence,  because  I  have  not  a 
talent  for  argument ;  I  am  not  good  enough  for 
a  minister, — and  as  to  physic,  I  utterly  and 
absolutely  detest  it."  Even  a  year  before  this, 
he  had  written  to  his  father  a  letter  of  some 
moment,  dated  March  13,  1824,  containing  the 
following  ominous  passage:  "I  am  curious  to 
know  what  you  do  intend  to  make  of  me, — 
whether  I  am  to  study  a  profession  or  not ;  and 
if  so,  what  profession.  I  hope  your  ideas  upon 


38     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

this  subject  will  agree  with  mine,  for  I  have  a 
particular  and  strong  prejudice  for  one  course 
of  life,  to  which  you,  I  fear,  will  not  agree.  It 
will  not  be  worth  while  for  me  to  mention  what 
this  is  until  I  become  more  acquainted  with  your 
own  wishes."  l 

This  letter  remaining  for  some  months  unan- 
swered, there  followed  another  which  at  last 
stated  his  own  personal  desire.  It  was  written 
to  his  father  and  dated  December  5,  1824. 

"  I  take  this  early  opportunity  to  write  to  you, 
because  I  wish  to  know  fully  your  inclination 
with  regard  to  the  profession  I  am  to  pursue 
when  I  leave  college. 

"  For  my  part  I  have  already  hinted  to  you 
what  would  best  please  me.  I  want  to  spend 
one  year  at  Cambridge  for  the  purpose  of  read- 
ing history  and  of  becoming  familiar  with  the 
best  authors  in  polite  literature ;  whilst  at  the 
same  time  I  can  be  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the 
Italian  language,  without  an  acquaintance  with 
which  I  shall  be  shut  out  from  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  departments  of  letters.  The  French  I 
mean  to  understand  pretty  thoroughly  before  I 
leave  college.  After  leaving  Cambridge  I  would 
attach  myself  to  some  literary  periodical  publi- 
cation, by  which  I  could  maintain  myself  and 
still  enjoy  the  advantages  of  reading.  Now,  I 
1  Life,  i.  50. 


LITERATURE  AS  A  PURSUIT  39 

do  not  think  that  there  is  anything  visionary  or 
chimerical  in  niy  plan  thus  far.  The  fact  is  — 
and  I  will  not  disguise  it  in  the  least,  for  I  think 
I  ought  not  —  the  fact  is,  I  most  eagerly  aspire 
after  future  eminence  in  literature ;  my  whole 
soul  burns  most  ardently  for  it,  and  every  earthly 
thought  centres  in  it.  There  may  be  something 
visionary  in  this,  but  I  flatter  myself  that  I  have 
prudence  enough  to  keep  my  enthusiasm  from 
defeating  its  own  object  by  too  great  haste. 
Surely  there  never  was  a  better  opportunity  of- 
fered for  the  exertion  of  literary  talent  in  our  own 
country  than  is  now  offered.  To  be  sure,  most 
of  our  literary  men  thus  far  have  not  been  pro- 
fessedly so  until  they  have  studied  and  entered 
the  practice  of  Theology,  Law,  or  Medicine. 
But  this  is  evidently  lost  time.  I  do  believe 
that  we  ought  to  pay  more  attention  to  the  opin- 
ion of  philosophers,  that  'nothing  but  Nature 
can  qualify  a  man  for  knowledge.' 

"  Whether  Nature  has  given  me  any  capacity 
for  knowledge  or  not,  she  has  at  any  rate  given 
me  a  very  strong  predilection  for  literary  pur- 
suits, and  I  am  almost  confident  in  believing 
that,  if  I  can  ever  rise  in  the  world,  it  must  be 
by  the  exercise  of  my  talent  in  the  wide  field 
of  literature.  With  such  a  belief,  I  must  say 
that  I  am  unwilling  to  engage  in  the  study  of 
law." 


40     HENRY  WADSWOETH  LONGFELLOW 

Again  on  December  31  he  writes  to  his  father, 
by  way  of  New  Year's  gift,  "  Let  me  reside  one 
year  at  Cambridge ;  let  me  study  belles-lettres, 
and  after  that  time  it  will  not  require  a  spirit  of 
prophecy  to  predict  with  some  degree  of  cer- 
tainty what  kind  of  a  figure  I  could  make  in 
the  literary  world.  If  I  fail  here,  there  is  still 
time  enough  left  for  the  study  of  a  profession ; 
and  while  residing  at  Cambridge,  I  shall  have 
acquired  the  knowledge  of  some  foreign  lan- 
guages which  will  be,  through  life,  of  the  great- 
est utility." 

The  answer  of  the  father  is  too  characteristic 
to  be  omitted,  whether  for  its  views  as  to  per- 
sonal standards  or  as  to  poetic  structure.  Most 
youthful  poets  of  that  day  had  to  face  a  critical 
method  based  strictly  upon  the  versification  of 
Pope,  and  their  parents  regarded  all  more  flow- 
ing measures  as  having  a  slight  flavor  of  the 
French  Revolution. 

"  The  subject  of  your  first  letter  is  one  of 
deep  interest  and  demands  great  consideration. 
A  literary  life,  to  one  who  has  the  means  of  sup- 
port, must  be  very  pleasant.  But  there  is  not 
wealth  enough  in  this  country  to  afford  encourage- 
ment and  patronage  to  merely  literary  men.  And 
as  you  have  not  had  the  fortune  (I  will  not  say 
whether  good  or  ill)  to  be  born  rich,  you  must 
adopt  a  profession  which  will  afford  you  subsist- 


LITERATURE  AS  A  PURSUIT          41 

ence  as  well  as  reputation.  I  am  happy  to  ob- 
serve that  my  ambition  has  never  been  to  accu- 
mulate wealth  for  my  children,  but  to  cultivate 
their  minds  in  the  best  possible  manner,  and  to 
imbue  them  with  correct  moral,  political,  and 
religious  principles,  —  believing  that  a  person 
thus  educated  will  with  proper  diligence  be  cer- 
tain of  attaining  all  the  wealth  which  is  neces- 
sary to  happiness.  With  regard  to  your  spend- 
ing a  year  at  Cambridge,  I  have  always  thought 
it  might  be  beneficial ;  and  if  my  health  should 
not  be  impaired  and  my  finances  should  allow,  I 
should  be  very  happy  to  gratify  you.  ...  In 
the  '  Advertiser '  of  the  18th,  I  observe  some 
poetry  from  the  '  U.  S.  Literary  Gazette,'  which 
from  the  signature,  I  presume  to  be  from  your 
pen.  It  is  a  very  pretty  production,  and  I  read 
it  with  pleasure.  But  you  will  observe  that  the 
second  line  of  the  sixth  verse  has  too  many  feet. 
4  Beneath  the  dark  and  motionless  beech.'  I 
think  it  would  be  improved  by  substituting 
lonely  for  motionless.  I  suggest  this  for  your 
consideration.  I  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
frequently  from  home.  They  complain  that  they 
have  not  heard  a  word  from  you  since  you  left. 
This  is  unpardonable." 

On  January  24,  1825,  the  son  wrote  to  his 
father  again :  — 

"  From  the  general  tenor  of  your  last  letter 


42     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

it  seems  to  be  your  fixed  desire  that  I  should 
choose  the  profession  of  the  law  for  the  business 
of  my  life.  I  am  very  much  rejoiced  that  you 
accede  so  readily  to  my  proposition  of  studying 
general  literature  for  one  year  at  Cambridge. 
My  grand  object  in  doing  this  will  be  to  gain  as 
perfect  a  knowledge  of  the  French  and  Italian 
languages  as  can  be  gained  without  travelling  in 
France  and  Italy,  —  though,  to  tell  the  truth,  I 
intend  to  visit  both  before  I  die.  ...  I  am  afraid 
you  begin  to  think  me  rather  chimerical  in  many 
of  my  ideas,  and  that  I  am  ambitious  of  becom- 
ing a  '  rara  avis  in  terris.'  But  you  must 
acknowledge  the  usefulness  of  aiming  high, — 
at  something  which  it  is  impossible  to  overshoot 
—  perhaps  to  reach.  The  fact  is,  I  have  a  most 
voracious  appetite  for  knowledge.  To  its  acqui- 
sition I  will  sacrifice  everything.  .  .  .  Nothing 
delights  me  more  than  reading  and  writing. 
And  nothing  could  induce  me  to  relinquish  the 
pleasures  of  literature,  little  as  I  have  yet  tasted 
them.  Of  the  three  professions  I  should  prefer 
the  law.  I  am  far  from  being  a  fluent  speaker, 
but  practice  must  serve  as  a  talisman  where 
talent  is  wanting.  I  can  be  a  lawyer.  This 
will  support  my  real  existence,  literature  an 
ideal  one. 

"  I  purchased  last  evening  a  beautiful  pocket 
edition  of  Sir  William  Jones's  Letters,  and  have 


LITERATURE  AS  A  PURSUIT          43 

just  finished  reading  them.  Eight  languages  he 
was  critically  versed  in  ;  eight  more  he  read 
with  a  dictionary ;  and  there  were  twelve  more 
not  wholly  unknown  to  him.  I  have  somewhere 
seen  or  heard  the  observation  that  as  many  lan- 
guages as  a  person  acquires,  so  many  times  is  he 
a  man." l 

It  was  undoubtedly  an  important  fact  to  the 
young  poet  to  be  brought  thus  early  in  contact 
with  Sir  William  Jones  and  his  twenty-eight 
languages.  It  is  the  experience  of  all  that  the 
gift  of  learning  a  variety  of  tongues  is  some- 
thing which  peculiarly  belongs  to  youth.  In 
Southern  Europe,  in  Kussia,  in  the  East,  it  is  a 
common  thing  to  encounter  mere  children  who 
with  next  to  no  schooling  will  prattle  readily 
in  three  or  four  languages  with  equal  inaccuracy 
but  with  equal  ease ;  while  a  much  older  person 
may  acquire  them  by  laborious  study  and  yet 
never  feel  at  home.  One  can  hardly  doubt 
Longfellow's  natural  readiness  in  that  direc- 
tion ;  he  was  always  being  complimented,  at  any 
rate  —  though  this  may  not  count  for  much  — 
upon  his  aptness  in  pronouncing  foreign  tongues, 
and  the  ease  with  which  his  own  compositions 
lent  themselves  to  translation  may  very  possibly 
have  some  obscure  connection  with  his  own  gifts 
in  this  respect.  His  college  training  can  have 
1  Life,  i.  57,  58. 


44     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

had  little  bearing  upon  it,  since  there  is  no  evi- 
dence that  his  classmate  Hawthorne,  doubtless 
a  man  of  higher  genius,  showed  any  such  capa- 
city. 


CHAPTER  V 

FIRST  VISIT  TO   EUEOPE 

LONGFELLOW'S  college  class  (1825)  numbered 
thirty-seven,  and  his  rank  in  it  at  graduation 
was  nominally  fourth  —  though  actually  third, 
through  the  sudden  death  of  a  classmate  just  be- 
fore Commencement.  Soon  after  his  graduation, 
an  opportunity  occurred  to  establish  a  professor- 
ship of  modern  languages  in  the  college  upon  a 
fund  given  by  Mrs.  Bowdoin;  and  he,  being 
then  scarcely  nineteen,  and  nominally  a  law 
student  in  his  father's  office,  was  sent  to  Europe 
to  prepare  himself  for  this  chair,  apparently 
on  an  allowance  of  six  hundred  dollars  a  year. 
The  college  tradition  is  that  this  appointment  — 
which  undoubtedly  determined  the  literary  ten- 
dencies of  his  whole  life  —  was  given  to  him  in 
consequence  of  the  impression  made  upon  an 
examining  committee  by  the  manner  in  which 
he  had  translated  one  of  Horace's  odes.  He 
accordingly  sailed  from  New  York  for  Europe 
on  May  15,  1826,  having  stopped  at  Boston 
on  the  way,  where  he  dined  with  Professor 
George  Ticknor,  then  holding  the  professorship 


46     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

at  Harvard  College  to  which  Longfellow  was 
destined  to  succeed  at  a  later  day.  Professor 
Ticknor  had  himself  recently  returned  from  a 
German  university,  and  urged  the  young  man 
to  begin  his  studies  there,  giving  him  letters  of 
introduction  to  Professor  Eichhorn,  to  Robert 
Southey,  and  to  Washington  Irving,  then  in 
Europe. 

He  sailed  on  the  ship  Cadmus,  Captain  Allen, 
and  wrote  to  his  mother  from  Havre  that  his  pas- 
sage of  thirty  days  had  been  a  dreary  blank,  and 
that  the  voyage  was  very  tiresome  because  of  the 
continual  talking  of  French  and  broken  English, 
adding,  "  For  Frenchmen,  you  know,  talk  inces- 
santly, and  we  had  at  least  a  dozen  of  them  with 
us."  In  spite  of  this  rather  fatiguing  opportu- 
nity, he  was  not  at  once  at  home  in  French,  but 
wrote  ere  long,  "  I  am  coming  on  famously,  I 
assure  you."  He  wrote  from  Auteuil,  where  he 
soon  went,  "  Attached  to  the  house  is  an  exten- 
sive garden,  full  of  fruit-trees,  and  bowers,  and 
alcoves,  where  the  boarders  ramble  and  talk  from 
morning  till  night.  This  makes  the  situation  an 
excellent  one  for  me ;  I  can  at  any  time  hear 
French  conversation,  —  for  the  French  are  al- 
ways talking.  Besides,  the  conversation  is  the 
purest  of  French,  inasmuch  as  persons  from 
the  highest  circles  in  Paris  are  residing  here, 
—  amongst  others,  an  old  gentleman  who  was 


FIRST  VISIT  TO  EUROPE  47 

of  the  household  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  and  a 
Madame  de  Sailly,  daughter  of  a  celebrated 
advocate  named  Berryer,  who  was  the  defender 
of  Marshal  Ney  in  his  impeachment  for  treason. 
There  is  also  a  young  student  of  law  here,  who 
is  my  almost  constant  companion,  and  who  cor- 
rects all  my  mistakes  in  speaking  or  writing  the 
French.  As  he  is  not  much  older  than  I  am,  I 
do  not  feel  so  much  embarrassed  in  speaking  to 
him  &3  I  do  in  speaking  to  others.  These  are 
some  of  the  advantages  which  I  enjoy  here,  and 
you  can  easily  imagine  others  which  a  country 
residence  offers  over  that  of  a  city,  during  the 
vacation  of  the  literary  institutions  at  Paris  and 
the  cessation  of  their  lectures." 

It  is  to  be  noticed  from  the  outset  that  the 
French  villages  disappointed  him  as  they  dis- 
appoint many  others.  In  his  letters  he  recalls 
"  how  fresh  and  cheerful  and  breezy  a  New  Eng- 
land village  is ;  how  marked  its  features  —  so  dif- 
erent  from  the  town,  so  peculiar,  so  delightful." 
He  finds  a  French  village,  on  the  other  hand,  to  be 
like  a  deserted  town,  having  "the  same  paved 
streets,  the  same  dark,  narrow  alleys  without 
sidewalks,  the  same  dingy  stone  houses,  each 
peeping  into  its  neighbor's  windows,  the  same 
eternal  stone  walls,  shutting  in  from  the  eye  of 
the  stranger  all  the  beauty  of  the  place  and 
opposing  an  inhospitable  barrier  to  the  lover 


48     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

of  natural  scenery."  But  when  he  finds  him- 
self among  rural  scenes,  he  has  the  delight  felt 
by  many  an  American  boy  since  his  days,  as 
in  the  picture  following :  — 

"From  Orleans  I  started  on  foot  for  Tours 
on  the  fifth  of  October.  October  is  my  favorite 
month  of  the  twelve.  When  I  reflected  that  if  I 
remained  in  Paris  I  should  lose  the  only  oppor- 
tunity I  might  ever  enjoy  of  seeing  the  centre  of 
France  in  all  the  glory  of  the  vintage  and  the 
autumn,  I  '  shut  the  book-lid  '  and  took  wing, 
with  a  little  knapsack  on  my  back,  and  a  blue 
cap,  —  not  exactly  like  Quentin  Durward,  but 
perhaps  a  little  more.  More  anon  of  him.  I  had 
gone  as  far  as  Orleans  in  the  diligence  because 
the  route  is  through  an  uninteresting  country. 

"  I  began  the  pedestrian  part  of  my  journey 
on  one  of  those  dull,  melancholy  days  which 
you  will  find  uttering  a  mournful  voice  in 
Sewall's  Almanack :  '  Expect  —  much  —  rain 
—  about  —  this  —  time  ! '  '  Very  miscellaneous 
weather,  good  for  sundry  purposes,'  —  but  not 
for  a  journey  on  foot,  thought  I.  But  I  had  a 
merry  heart,  and  it  went  merrily  along  all  day. 
At  sundown  I  found  myself  about  seven  leagues 
on  my  way  and  one  beyond  Beaugency.  I  found 
the  route  one  continued  vineyard.  On  each  side 
of  the  road,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  there 
was  nothing  but  vines,  save  here  and  there  a 


FIRST  VISIT  TO  EUROPE  49 

glimpse  of  the  Loire,  the  turrets  of  an  old  cha- 
teau, or  spire  of  a  village  church.  The  clouds 
had  passed  away  with  the  morning,  and  I  had 
made  a  fine  day's  journey,  cutting  across  the 
country,  traversing  vineyards,  and  living  in  all 
the  luxury  of  thought  which  the  occasion  in- 
spired. I  recollect  that  at  sunset  I  had  entered 
a  path  which  wound  through  a  wide  vineyard 
where  the  villagers  were  still  at  their  labors, 
and  I  was  loitering  along,  talking  with  the 
peasantry  and  searching  for  an  auberge  to  pass 
the  night  in.  I  was  presently  overtaken  by  a 
band  of  villagers ;  I  wished  them  a  good  even- 
ing, and  finding  that  the  girls  of  the  party  were 
going  to  a  village  at  a  short  distance,  I  joined 
myself  to  the  band.  I  wanted  to  get  into  one 
of  the  cottages,  if  possible,  in  order  to  study  char- 
acter. I  had  a  flute  in  my  knapsack,  and  I 
thought  it  would  be  very  pretty  to  touch  up  at  a 
cottage  door,  Goldsmith-like,  —  though  I  would 
not  have  done  it  for  the  world  without  an  invita- 
tion. Well,  before  long,  I  determined  to  get  an 
invitation,  if  possible.  So  I  addressed  the  girl 
who  was  walking  beside  me,  told  her  I  had  a 
flute  in  my  sack,  and  asked  her  if  she  would  like 
to  dance.  Now  laugh  long  and  loud !  What  do 
you  suppose  her  answer  was  ?  She  said  she  liked 
to  dance,  but  she  did  not  know  what  a  flute  was ! 
What  havoc  that  made  among  my  romantic 


50     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

ideas !  My  quietus  was  made  ;  I  said  no  more 
about  a  flute,  the  whole  journey  through ;  and  I 
thought  nothing  but  starvation  would  drive  me 
to  strike  up  at  the  entrance  of  a  village,  as 
Goldsmith  did."1 

Thus,  wherever  he  goes,  his  natural  good  spir- 
its prevail  over  everything.  Washington  Irving, 
in  his  diary,  speaks  of  Longfellow  at  Madrid  as 
having  "  arrived  safely  and  cheerily,  having  met 
with  no  robbers."  Mrs.  Alexander  Everett, 
wife  of  the  American  minister  at  Madrid,  writes 
back  to  America,  "  His  countenance  is  itself  a 
letter  of  recommendation."  He  went  into  good 
Spanish  society  and  also  danced  in  the  streets 
on  village  holidays.  At  the  Alhambra,  he  saw 
the  refinement  of  beauty  within  the  halls,  and 
the  clusters  of  gypsy  caves  in  the  hillside  oppo- 
site. After  eight  months  of  Spain  he  went  on 
to  Italy,  where  he  remained  until  December,  and 
passed  to  Germany  with  the  new  year.  He  sums 
up  his  knowledge  of  the  languages  at  this  point 
by  saying,  "  With  the  French  and  Spanish  lan- 
guages I  am  familiarly  conversant  so  as  to  speak 
them  correctly  and  write  them  with  as  much 
ease  and  fluency  as  I  do  the  English.  The 
Portuguese  I  read  without  difficulty.  And  with 
regard  to  my  proficiency  in  the  Italian,  I  have 
only  to  say  that  all  at  the  hotel  where  I  lodge 
^  Life,  I  90,91. 


FIRST  VISIT  TO  EUROPE  51 

took  me  for  an  Italian,  until  I  told  them  I  was 
an  American."  He  settled  down  to  his  studies 
in  Germany,  his  father  having  written,  with 
foresight  then  unusual,  "  I  consider  the  German 
language  and  literature  much  more  important 
than  the  Italian."  He  did  not,  however,  have 
any  sense  of  actual  transplantation,  as  is  the 
case  with  some  young  students,  for  although  he 
writes  to  his  sister  (March  28,  1829),  "My 
poetic  career  is  finished.  Since  I  left  America 
I  have  hardly  put  two  lines  together,"  yet  he 
sends  to  Carey  &  Lea,  the  Philadelphia  pub- 
lishers, to  propose  a  series  of  sketches  and  tales 
of  New  England  life.  These  sketches,  as  given 
in  his  note-book,  are  as  follows  :  — 

"  1.  New  England  Scenery :  description  of 
Sebago  Pond  ;  rafting  logs ;  tavern  scene ;  a 
tale  connected  with  the  '  Images.' 

"  2.  A  New  England  Village  :  country  squire  ; 
the  parson ;  the  little  deacon ;  the  farm-house 
kitchen. 

"  3.  Husking  Frolic  :  song  and  tales ;  fellow 
who  plays  the  fife  for  the  dance;  tale  of  the 
Quoddy  Indians ;  description  of  Sacobezon,  their 
chief. 

"  5.  Thanksgiving  Day  :  its  merry-making, 
and  tales  (also  of  the  Indians). 

"  7.  Description  of  the  White  Mountains : 
tale  of  the  Bloody  Hand. 


52     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

"  10.  Reception  of   Lafayette   in   a  country 
village. 

"  13.  Down  East :  the  missionary  of  Acadie." l 
A  few  days  after,  he  wrote  from  Gottingen  to 
his  father,  "  I  shall  never  again  be  in  Europe." 
We  thus  see  his  mind  at  work  on  American 
themes  in  Germany,  as  later  on  German  themes 
in  America,  unconsciously  predicting  that  min- 
gling of  the  two  influences  which  gave  him  his 
fame.  His  earlier  books  gave  to  studious  Amer- 
icans, as  I  can  well  recall,  their  first  imaginative 
glimpses  of  Europe,  while  the  poet's  homeward- 
looking  thoughts  from  Europe  had  shown  the 
instinct  which  was  to  identify  his  later  fame 
with  purely  American  themes.  It  is  to  be  no- 
ticed that  whatever  was  artificial  and  foreign  in 
Longfellow's  work  appeared  before  he  went  to 
Europe ;  and  was  the  same  sort  of  thing  which 
appeared  in  all  boyish  American  work  at  that 
period.  It  was  then  that  in  describing  the  Indian 
hunter  he  made  the  dance  go  round  by  the  green- 
wood tree.  He  did  not  lay  this  aside  at  once 
after  his  return  from  Europe,  and  Margaret 
Fuller  said  of  him,  "  He  borrows  incessantly  and 
mixes  what  he  borrows."  Criticising  the  very 
prelude  to  "  Voices  of  the  Night,"  she  pointed 
out  the  phrases  "  pentecost "  and  "  bishop's-caps  " 
as  indications  that  he  was  not  merely  "  musing 

1  Life,  i.  165. 


FIRST  VISIT  TO  EUROPE  53 

upon  many  things,"  but  on  many  books  which 
described  them.  But  the  habit  steadily  dimin- 
ished. His  very  gift  at  translation,  in  which  he 
probably  exceeded  on  the  whole  any  other  modern 
poet,  led  him,  nevertheless,  always  to  reproduce 
old  forms  rather  than  create  new  ones,  thus  aid- 
ing immensely  his  popularity  with  the  mass  of 
simple  readers,  while  coming  short  of  the  full 
demands  of  the  more  critical.  To  construct  his 
most  difficult  poems  was  thus  mainly  a  serene 
pleasure,  and  something  as  far  as  possible  from 
that  conflict  which  kept  Hawthorne  all  winter, 
by  his  wife's  testimony,  with  "  a  knot  in  his 
forehead  "  while  he  was  writing  "  The  Scarlet 
Letter." 

It  is  always  to  be  borne  in  mind  that,  as 
Mr.  Scudder  has  pointed  out  in  his  admirable 
paper  on  "  Longfellow  and  his  Art,"  the  young 
poet  was  really  preparing  himself  in  Europe 
for  his  literary  work  as  well  as  for  his  profes- 
sional work,  and  half  consciously.  This  is  singu- 
larly confirmed  by  his  lifelong  friend,  Profes- 
sor George  W.  Greene,  who,  in  dedicating  his 
"  The  Life  of  Nathanael  Greene  "  to  his  friend, 
thus  recalls  an  evening  spent  together  at  Naples 
in  1828 :  - 

"  We  wanted,"  he  says,  "  to  be  alone,  and  yet 
to  feel  that  there  was  life  all  around  us.  We 
went  up  to  the  flat  roof  of  the  house  where,  as 


54     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

we  walked,  we  could  look  down  into  the  crowded 
street,  and  out  upon  the  wonderful  bay,  and 
across  the  bay  to  Ischia  and  Capri  and  Sorrento, 
and  over  the  house-tops  and  villas  and  vineyards 
to  Vesuvius.  The  ominous  pillar  of  smoke  hung 
suspended  above  the  fatal  mountain,  reminding 
us  of  Pliny,  its  first  and  noblest  victim.  A  golden 
vapor  crowned  the  bold  promontory  of  Sorrento, 
and  we  thought  of  Tasso.  Capri  was  calmly 
sleeping,  like  a  sea-bird  upon  the  waters ;  and 
we  seemed  to  hear  the  voice  of  Tacitus  from 
across  the  gulf  of  eighteen  centuries,  telling  us 
that  the  historian's  pen  is  still  powerful  to  ab- 
solve or  to  condemn  long  after  the  imperial  scep- 
tre has  fallen  from  the  withered  hand.  There, 
too,  lay  the  native  island  of  him  whose  daring 
mind  conceived  the  fearful  vengeance  of  the 
Sicilian  Vespers.  We  did  not  yet  know  Nic- 
colini ;  but  his  grand  verses  had  already  begun 
their  work  of  regeneration  in  the  Italian  heart. 
Virgil's  tomb  was  not  far  off.  The  spot  conse- 
crated by  Sannazaro's  ashes  was  near  us.  And 
over  all,  with  a  thrill  like  that  of  solemn  music, 
fell  the  splendor  of  the  Italian  sunset."  l 

As  an  illustration  of  this  obvious  fact  that 
Longfellow,  during  this  first  European  visit, 
while  nominally  training  himself  for  purely 
educational  work,  was  fitting  himself  also  for  a 

1  Scudder's  Men  and  Letters,  28,  29. 


FIRST  VISIT  TO  EUROPE  55 

literary  career,  we  find  from  his  letter  to  his 
father,  May  15,  1829,  that  while  hearing  lec- 
tures in  German  and  studying  faithfully  that 
language,  he  was,  as  he  says,  "  writing  a  book,  a 
kind  of  Sketch-Book  of  scenes  in  France,  Spain, 
and  Italy."  "We  shall  presently  encounter  this 
book  under  the  name  of  "  Outre-Mer."  He 
connects  his  two  aims  by  saying  in  the  same 
letter,  "  One  must  write  and  write  correctly,  in 
order  to  teach."  Again  he  adds,  "  The  further 
I  advance,  the  more  I  see  to  be  done.  The 
more,  too,  I  am  persuaded  of  the  charlatanism 
of  literary  men.  For  the  rest,  my  fervent  wish 
is  to  return  home."  His  brother  tells  us  that 
among  his  note-books  of  that  period,  we  find  a 
favorite  passage  from  Locke  which  reappears 
many  years  after  in  one  of  his  letters  and  in  his 
impromptu  address  to  the  children  of  Cam- 
bridge, in  1880 :  "  Thus  the  ideas  as  well  as 
the  children  of  our  youth  often  die  before  us, 
and  our  minds  represent  to  us  those  tombs  to 
which  we  are  approaching ;  where,  though  the 
brass  and  marble  remain,  yet  the  inscriptions 
are  effaced  by  time,  and  the  imagery  moulders 
away."  1  He  also  included  a  quotation  from 
John  Lyly's  "  Endymion,"  which  ten  years  later 
furnished  the  opening  of  his  own  "  Hyperion." 

1  Locke,  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding,  bk.  ii.  ch.  10, 
"  Of  Retention." 


56     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

"  Dost  thou  know  what  a  poet  is  ?  Why,  fool, 
a  poet  is  as  much  as  one  should  say  —  a  poet." 
When  we  consider  what  he  had  just  before 
written  to  his  sister,  it  only  furnishes  another 
illustration  of  the  fact,  which  needs  no  demon- 
stration, that  young  authors  do  not  always  know 
themselves.  * 

He  reached  home  from  Europe,  after  three 
years  of  absence,  on  August  11,  1829,  looking 
toward  Bowdoin  College  as  his  abode,  and  a 
professorship  of  modern  languages  as  his  future 
position.  Up  to  this  time,  to  be  sure,  the  eco- 
nomical college  had  offered  him  only  an  instruc- 
torship.  But  he  had  shown  at  this  point  that 
quiet  decision  and  firmness  which  marked  him 
in  all  practical  affairs,  and  which  was  not  always 
quite  approved  by  his  more  anxious  father.  In 
this  case  he  carried  his  point,  and  he  received 
on  the  6th  of  September  this  simple  record  of 
proceedings  from  the  college  :  — 

"  In  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Bowdoin  Col- 
lege, Sept.  1st,  1829:  Mr.  Henry  W.  Long- 
fellow having  declined  to  accept  the  office  of 
instructor  in  modern  languages. 

"  Voted,  that  we  now  proceed  to  the  choice  of 
a  professor  of  modern  languages. 

"  And  Mr.  H.  W.  Longfellow  was  chosen." 

Thus  briefly  was  the  matter  settled,  and  he 
was  launched  upon  his  life's  career  at  the  age  of 


FIRST  VISIT  TO  EUROPE  57 

twenty-two.  Of  those  who  made  up  his  circle 
of  friends  in  later  years,  Holmes  had  just  grad- 
uated from  Harvard,  Sumner  was  a  Senior 
there,  and  Lowell  was  a  schoolboy  in  Cam- 
bridge. Few  American  colleges  had  at  that 
time  special  professors  of  modern  languages, 
though  George  Ticknor  had  set  a  standard  for 
them  all.  Longfellow  had  to  prepare  his  own 
text-books  —  to  translate  "  L'Homond's  Gram- 
mar," to  edit  an  excellent  little  volume  of 
French  "  Proverbes  Dramatiques,"  and  a  small 
Spanish  Reader,  "  Novelas  Espanolas."  He  was 
also  enlisted  in  a  few  matters  outside,  and  drew 
up  the  outline  of  a  prospectus  for  a  girls'  high 
school  in  Portland,  such  high  schools  being  then 
almost  as  rare  as  professorships  of  modern  lan- 
guages. He  was  also  librarian.  He  gave  a 
course  of  lectures  on  French,  Spanish,  and  Ital- 
ian literature,  but  there  seems  to  have  been  no 
reference  to  German,  which  had  not  then  come 
forward  into  the  place  in  American  education 
which  it  now  occupies.  As  to  literature,  he 
wrote  to  his  friend,  George  W.  Greene,  "Since 
my  return  I  have  written  one  piece  of  poetry, 
but  have  not  published  a  line.  You  need  not 
be  alarmed  on  that  score.  I  am  all  prudence 
now,  since  I  can  form  a  more  accurate  judg- 
ment of  the  merit  of  poetry.  If  I  ever  publish 
a  volume,  it  will  be  many  years  first."  It  was 


58     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

actually  nine  years.  For  the  "  North  American 
Review "  he  wrote  in  April,  1831,  an  essay 
on  "The  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  French 
Language."  He  afterwards  sent  similar  papers 
to  the  same  periodical  upon  the  Italian  and 
Spanish  languages  and  literatures,  each  of  these 
containing  also  original  translations.  Thus  he 
entered  on  his  career  as  a  teacher,  but  another 
change  in  life  also  awaited  him. 


CHAPTER  VI 
MARRIAGE  AND  LIFE  AT  BRUNSWICK 

IT  has  been  a  source  of  regret  to  many  that 
the  memoirs  of  Longfellow,  even  when  prepared 
by  his  brother,  have  given,  perhaps  necessarily, 
so  little  space  to  his  early  love  and  first  mar- 
riage, facts  which  are  apt  to  be,  for  a  poet,  the 
turning-points  in  his  career.  We  know  that 
this  period  in  Lowell's  life,  for  instance,  brought 
what  seemed  almost  a  transformation  of  his  na- 
ture, making  an  earnest  reformer  and  patriot  of 
a  youth  who  had  hitherto  been  little  more  than 
a  brilliant  and  somewhat  reckless  boy.  In  Long- 
fellow's serener  nature  there  was  no  room  for  a 
change  so  marked,  yet  it  is  important  to  recog- 
nize that  it  brought  with  it  a  revival  of  that 
poetic  tendency  which  had  singularly  subsided 
for  a  time  after  its  early  manifestation.  He 
had  written  to  his  friend,  George  W.  Greene, 
on  June  27,  1830,  that  he  had  long  ceased  to 
attach  any  value  to  'his  early  poems  or  even  to 
think  of  them  at  all.  Yet  after  about  a  year  of 
married  life,  he  began  (December  1,  1832)  the 
introduction  to  his  Phi  Beta  Kappa  poem,  and 


60     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

during  the  following  year  published  a  volume  of 
poetical  translations  from  the  Spanish  ;  thus  imi- 
tating Bryant,  then  in  some  ways  his  model,  who 
had  derived  so  much  of  his  inspiration  from  the 
Spanish  muse.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  recog- 
nize something  of  his  young  wife's  influence  in 
this  rekindling  of  poetic  impulse,  and  it  is  plea- 
sant, in  examining  the  manuscript  lectures  deliv- 
ered by  him  at  Bowdoin  College  and  still  pre- 
served there,  to  find  them  accompanied  by  pages 
of  extracts,  here  and  there,  in  her  handwriting. 
It  will  therefore  be  interesting  to  make  her 
acquaintance  a  little  farther. 

Mary  Storer  Potter  was  the  second  daughter 
of  the  Hon.  Barrett  Potter  and  Anne  (Storer) 
Potter  of  Portland,  neighbors  and  friends  of  the 
Longfellow  family.  She  had  been  for  a  time 
a  schoolmate  of  Henry  Longfellow  at  the  pri- 
vate school  of  Bezaleel  Cushman  in  Portland ; 
and  it  is  the  family  tradition  that  on  the  young 
professor's  returning  to  his  native  city  after  his 
three  years'  absence  in  Europe  he  saw  her  at 
church  and  was  so  struck  with  her  appearance 
as  to  follow  her  home  afterwards  without  ventur- 
ing to  accost  her.  On  reaching  his  own  house, 
however,  he  begged  his  sister  to  call  with  him 
at  once  at  the  Potter  residence,  and  all  the  rest 
followed  as  in  a  novel.  They  were  married 
September  14,  1831,  she  being  then  nineteen 


MARRIAGE  AND  LIFE  AT  BRUNSWICK    61 

years  of  age,  having  been  born  on  May  12, 
1812,  and  he  being  twenty-four. 

It  was  a  period  when  Portland  was  somewhat 
celebrated  for  the  beauty  of  its  women  ;  and  in- 
deed feminine  beauty,  at  least  in  regard  to  color- 
ing, seems  somewhat  developed,  like  the  tints  of 
garden  flowers,  by  the  neighborhood  of  the  sea. 
An  oil  painting  of  Mrs.  Longfellow  is  in  my 
possession,  taken  in  a  costume  said  to  have  been 
selected  by  the  young  poet  from  one  of  the  highly 
illustrated  annuals  so  much  in  vogue  at  that  day. 
She  had  dark  hair  and  deep  blue  eyes,  the  latter 
still  represented  in  some  of  her  nieces,  although 
she  left  no  children.  Something  of  her  love  of 
study  and  of  her  qualities  of  mind  and  heart 
are  also  thus  represented  in  this  younger  gen- 
eration. She  had  never  learned  Latin  or  Greek, 
her  father  disapproving  of  those  studies  for 
girls,  but  he  had  encouraged  her  in  the  love  of 
mathematics,  and  there  is  among  her  papers  a 
calculation  of  an  eclipse. 

She  had  been  mainly  educated  at  the  school, 
then  celebrated,  of  Miss  Gushing  in  Hingham. 
"  My  first  impression  of  her,"  wrote  in  later  years 
the  venerable  professor,  Alpheus  Packard, — who 
was  professor  of  Latin  and  Greek  at  Bowdoin 
at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  —  "  is  of  an  attrac- 
tive person,  blooming  in  health  and  beauty,  the 
graceful  bride  of  a  very  attractive  and  elegant 


62     HENRY  WADS  WORTH  LONGFELLOW 

young  man."  Some  books  from  her  girlish 
library  now  lie  before  me,  dingy  and  time-worn, 
with  her  name  in  varying  handwriting  from  the 
early  "  Mary  S.  Potter "  to  the  later  "  Mary 
S.  P.  Longfellow.  "  They  show  many  marked 
passages  and  here  and  there  a  quotation.  The 
collection  begins  with  Miss  Edgeworth's  "  Harry 
and  Lucy ; "  then  follow  somewhat  abruptly 
"  Sabbath  Recreations,"  by  Miss  Emily  Taylor, 
and  "  The  Wreath,  a  selection  of  elegant  poems 
from  the  best  authors,"  —  these  poems  including 
the  classics  of  that  day,  Beattie's  "  Minstrel," 
Blair's  "  Grave,  "  Gray's  "  Elegy,"  Goldsmith's 
"Traveller,"  and  some  lighter  measures  from 
Campbell,  Moore,  and  Burns.  The  sombre  muse 
undoubtedly  predominated,  but  on  the  whole 
the  book  was  not  so  bad  an  elementary  prepara- 
tion for  the  training  of  a  poet's  wife.  It  is  a 
touching  accidental  coincidence  that  one  of  the 
poems  most  emphatically  marked  is  one  of  the 
few  American  poems  in  these  volumes,  Bryant's 
"Death  of  the  Flowers,"  especially  the  last 
verse,  which  describes  a  woman  "who  died  in  her 
youthful  beauty.  To  these  are  added  books  of 
maturer  counsel,  as  Miss  Bowdler's  "Poems 
and  Essays, "  then  reprinted  from  the  sixteenth 
English  edition,  but  now  forgotten,  and  Mrs. 
Barbauld's  "  Legacy  for  Young  Ladies,"  dis- 
cussing beauty,  fashion,  botany,  the  uses  of 


MARRIAGE  AND  LIFE  AT  BRUNSWICK    63 

history,  and  especially  including  a  somewhat 
elaborate  essay  on  "  female  studies, "  on  which, 
perhaps,  Judge  Potter  founded  his  prohibition 
of  the  classics.  Mrs.  Barbauld  lays  down  the 
rule  that  "  the  learned  languages,  the  Greek 
especially,  require  a  great  deal  more  time  than 
a  young  woman  can  conveniently  spare.  To 
the  Latin,"  she  adds,  "  there  is  not  an  equal 
objection  .  .  .  and  it  will  not,"  she  thinks,  "  in 
the  present  state  of  things,  excite  either  a  smile 
or  a  stare  in  fashionable  company."  But  she 
afterwards  says,  "  French  you  are  not  only  per- 
mitted to  learn,  but  you  are  laid  under  the 
same  necessity  of  acquiring  it  as  your  brother 
is  of  acquiring  the  Latin."  Mrs.  Barbauld's 
demands,  however,  are  not  extravagant,  as  she 
thinks  that  "  a  young  person  who  reads  French 
with  ease,  who  is  so  well  grounded  as  to  write 
it  grammatically,  and  has  what  I  should  call  a 
good  English  pronunciation  will  by  a  short 
residence  in  France  gain  fluency  and  the 
accent."  This  "good  English  pronunciation" 
of  French  is  still  not  unfamiliar  to  those  ac- 
quainted with  Anglicized  or  Americanized  re- 
gions of  Paris. 

Among  the  maturer  books  of  Mary  Potter 
was  Worcester's  "Elements  of  History,"  then 
and  now  a  clear  and  useful  manual  of  its  kind, 
and  a  little  book  called  "  The  Literary  Gem  " 


64     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

(1827),  which  was  an  excellent  companion  or 
antidote  for  Worcester's  History,  as  it  included 
translations  from  the  German  imaginative 
writers  just  beginning  to  be  known,  Goethe, 
Richter,  and  Korner,  together  with  examples  of 
that  American  literary  school  which  grew  up 
partly  in  imitation  of  the  German,  and  of  which 
the  "Legend  of  Peter  Rugg, "  by  William 
Austin,  is  the  only  specimen  now  remembered. 
With  this  as  a  concluding  volume,  it  will  be 
seen  that  Mary  Potter's  mind  had  some  fitting 
preparation  for  her  husband's  companionship, 
and  that  the  influence  of  Bryant  in  poetry,  and 
of  Austin,  the  precursor  of  Hawthorne,  in  prose, 
may  well  have  lodged  in  her  mind  the  ambition, 
which  was  always  making  itself  visible  in  her 
husband,  towards  the  new  work  of  creating  an 
American  literature.  It  is  in  this  point  of  view 
that  the  young  wife's  mental  training  assumed 
a  real  importance  in  studying  the  atmosphere 
of  Longfellow's  early  days.  For  the  rest,  she 
was  described  by  her  next-door  neighbor  in 
Brunswick,  Miss  Emeline  Weld,  as  "a  lovely 
woman  in  character  and  appearance,  gentle,  re- 
fined, and  graceful,  with  an  attractive  manner 
that  won  all  hearts."  l 

Longfellow's  salary  at  Bowdoin  College  was 
eight  hundred  dollars,  as  professor  of  modern 

1  Every  Other  Saturday,  i.  20. 


MARRIAGE  AND  LIFE  AT  BRUNSWICK    65 

languages,  with  an  additional  hundred  as  libra- 
rian. From  the  beginning  he  took  the  lead 
among  American  teachers  in  this  department, 
the  difficulty  among  these  being  that  they  con- 
sisted of  two  classes,  —  Americans  imperfectly 
acquainted  with  Europe  and  foreigners  as  im- 
perfectly known  in  America.  Even  in  the  selec- 
tion of  mere  tutors  the  same  trouble  always 
existed,  though  partially  diminished,  as  time 
went  on,  by  those  refugees  from  revolutionary 
excitements  in  Europe,  especially  from  Germany 
and  Italy,  who  were  a  real  addition  to  our  uni- 
versity circles.  Even  these  were  from  their  very 
conditions  of  arrival  a  somewhat  impetuous  and 
unmanageable  class,  and  in  American  colleges 
—  as  later  during  the  Civil  War  in  the  Ameri- 
can army  —  the  very  circumstances  of  their 
training  made  them  sometimes  hard  to  control 
as  subordinates.  It  was  very  fortunate,  when 
they  found,  as  in  Longfellow,  a  well-trained 
American  who  could  be  placed  over  their  heads. 
There  were  also  text-books  and  readers  to 
be  prepared  and  edited  by  the  young  profes- 
sor, one  of  which,  as  I  well  remember,  was 
of  immense  value  to  students,  the  "  Proverbes 
Dramatiques,"  already  mentioned,  a  collection 
of  simple  and  readable  plays,  written  in  collo- 
quial French,  and  a  most  valuable  substitute 
for  the  previous  Racine  and  Corneille,  the  use 


66     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

of  which  was  like  teaching  classes  to  read  out 
of  Shakespeare.  Thus  full  of  simple  and  con- 
genial work,  Longfellow  went  to  housekeeping 
with  his  young  wife  in  a  house  still  attractive 
under  its  rural  elms,  and  thus  described  by 
him:  — 

"  June  23  [1831].  I  can  almost  fancy  myself 
in  Spain,  the  morning  is  so  soft  and  beautiful. 
The  tessellated  shadow  of  the  honeysuckle  lies 
motionless  upon  my  study  floor,  as  if  it  were  a 
figure  in  the  carpet ;  and  through  the  open  win- 
dow comes  the  fragrance  of  the  wild  brier  and 
the  mock  orange.  The  birds  are  carolling  in 
the  trees,  and  their  shadows  flit  across  the  win- 
dow as  they  dart  to  and  fro  in  the  sunshine; 
while  the  murmur  of  the  bee,  the  cooing  of 
doves  from  the  eaves,  and  the  whirring  of  a 
little  humming-bird  that  has  its  nest  in  the 
honeysuckle,  send  up  a  sound  of  joy  to  meet  the 
rising  sun." 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   CORNER   STONE  LAID 

THAT  the  young  professor  rose  very  early  for 
literary  work,  even  in  November,  we  know  by 
his  own  letters,  and  we  also  know  that  he  then 
as  always  took  this  work  very  seriously  and  ear- 
nestly. What  his  favorite  employment  was,  we 
learn  by  a  letter  to  his  friend  George  W.  Greene 
(March  9, 1833)  about  a  book  which  he  proposes 
to  publish  in  parts,  and  concerning  which  he 
adds,  "  I  find  that  it  requires  little  courage  to 
publish  grammars  and  school-books  ;  but  in  the 
department  of  fine  writing  —  or  attempts  at  fine 
writing  —  it  requires  vastly  more."  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  he  had  already  published  preliminary 
sketches  of  "  Outre-Mer  "  in  the  "  New  England 
Magazine,"  a  Boston  periodical  just  undertaken, 
putting  them  under  the  rather  inappropriate  title 
of  "  The  Schoolmaster,"  the  first  appearing  in  the 
number  for  July  18, 1831,1  and  the  sixth  and  last 
in  the  number  for  February,  1833.2  He  writes 
to  his  sister  (July  17, 1831),  "  I  hereby  send  you 

1  New  England  Magazine,  i.  27. 

2  Ibid.  iv.  131. 


68     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

a  magazine  for  your  amusement.  I  wrote  '  The 
Schoolmaster'  and  the  translation  from  Luis 
de  Gorgora." l  It  is  worth  mentioning  that  he 
adds,  "  Read '  The  Late  Joseph  Natterstrom.'  It 
is  good."  This  was  a  story  by  William  Austin, 
whose  "  Peter  Rugg,  the  Missing  Man,"  has  just 
been  mentioned  as  an  early  landmark  of  the 
period.2  It  is  fair  to  say,  however,  that  the 
critic  of  to-day  can  hardly  see  in  these  youthful 
pages  any  promise  of  the  Longfellow  of  the 
future.  The  opening  chapter,  describing  the 
author  as  a  country  schoolmaster,  who  plays  with 
his  boys  in  the  afternoon,  is  only  a  bit  of  Irving 
diluted,  —  the  later  papers,  "  A  Walk  in  Nor- 
mandy," "  The  Village  of  Auteuil,"  etc.,  carry- 
ing the  thing  somewhat  farther,  but  always  in 
the  same  rather  thin  vein.  Their  quality  of 
crudeness  was  altogether  characteristic  of  the 
period,  and  although  Holmes  and  Whittier  tried 
their  'prentice  hands  with  the  best  intentions 
in  the  same  number  of  the  "  New  England 
Magazine,"  they  could  not  raise  its  level.  We 
see  in  these  compositions,  as  in  the  "  Annuals  " 
of  that  day,  that  although  Hawthorne  had  be- 
gun with  his  style  already  formed,  yet  that  of 
Longfellow  was  still  immature.  This  remark 
does  not,  indeed,  apply  to  a  version  of  a  French 

1  MS.  letter. 

2  See  Writings  of  William  Austin,  Boston,  1890. 


THE  CORNER  STONE  LAID      69 

drinking  song,1  which  exhibits  something  of  his 
later  knack  at  such  renderings.  There  was  at 
any  rate  some  distinct  maturity  in  the  first  num- 
ber of  "  Outre-Mer,"  which  appeared  in  1835. 
A  notice  of  this  book  in  the  London  "Specta- 
tor "  closed  with  this  expression  of  judgment : 
"  Either  the  author  of  the  4  Sketch  Book '  has 
received  a  warning,  or  there  are  two  Bichmonds 
in  the  field." 

Literary  history  hardly  affords  a  better  in- 
stance of  the  direct  following  of  a  model  by  a 
younger  author  than  one  can  inspect  by  lay- 
ing side  by  side  a  page  of  the  first  number  of 
"  Outre-Mer  "  and  a  page  of  the  "  Sketch  Book," 
taking  in  each  case  the  first  American  editions. 
Irving's  books  were  printed  by  C.  S.  Van  Win- 
kle, New  York,  and  Longfellow's  by  J.  Griffin, 
Brunswick,  Maine ;  the  latter  bearing  the  im- 
print of  Hilliard,  Gray  &  Co.,  Boston,  and  the 
former  of  the  printer  only.  Yet  the  physical  ap- 
pearance of  the  two  sets  of  books  is  almost  identi- 
cal ;  the  typography,  distribution  into  chapters, 
the  interleaved  titles  of  these  chapters,  and  the 
prefix  to  each  chapter  of  a  little  motto,  often  in  a 
foreign  language.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
the  "  Sketch  Book,"  like  "  Outre-Mer,"  was  origi- 
nally published  in  numbers  ;  and  besides  all  this 
the  literary  style  of  Longfellow's  work  was  at  this 

1  New  England  Magazine,  ii.  188. 


70     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

time  so  much  like  that  of  Irving  that  it  is  very 
hard  at  first  to  convince  the  eye  that  Irving  is  not 
responsible  for  all.  Yet  for  some  reason  or  other 
the  early  copies  of  the  "  Sketch  Book  "  command 
no  high  price  at  auction,  while  at  the  recent  sale 
of  Mr.  Arnold's  collection  in  New  York  the  two 
parts  of  "  Outre-Mer  "  brought  $310.  The  work 
is  now  so  rare  that  the  library  of  Harvard 
University  has  no  copy  of  the  second  part,  and 
only  an  imperfect  copy  of  the  first  with  sev- 
eral pages  mutilated,  but  originally  presented 
to  Professor  Felton  by  the  author  and  bearing 
his  autograph.  As  to  style,  it  is  unquestionable 
that  in  "  Outre-Mer  "  we  find  Washington  Irving 
frankly  reproduced,  while  in  "  Hyperion "  we 
are  soon  to  see  the  development  of  a  new  literary 
ambition  and  of  a  more  imaginative  touch. 

The  early  notices  of  "  Outre-Mer  "  are  written 
in  real  or  assumed  ignorance  of  the  author's 
name  and  almost  always  with  some  reference  to 
Irving.  Thus  there  is  a  paper  in  the  "  North 
American  Review  "  for  October,  1834,  by  the 
Rev.  O.  W.  B.  Peabody,  who  says  of  the  book  that 
it  is  "  obviously  the  production  of  a  writer  of  tal- 
ent and  of  cultivated  taste,  who  has  chosen  to  give 
to  the  public  the  results  of  his  observation  in 
foreign  countries  in  the  form  of  a  series  of  tales 
and  sketches."  He  continues,  "  It  is  a  form 
which,  as  every  reader  knows,  had  been  recom- 


THE  CORNER  STONE  LAID      71 

mended  by  the  high  example  and  success  of  Mr. 
Irving.  ...  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  in 
adopting  the  form  of  Mr.  Irving,  the  author  has 
been  guilty  of  any  other  imitation."  1  This  may 
in  some  sense  be  true,  and  yet  it  is  impossible  to 
compare  the  two  books  without  seeing  that  kind 
of  assimilation  which  is  only  made  more  thor- 
ough by  being  unconscious.  Longfellow,  even 
thus  early,  brought  out  more  picturesquely  and 
vividly  than  Irving  the  charm  exerted  by  the 
continent  of  Europe  over  the  few  Americans 
who  were  exploring  it.  What  Irving  did  in  this 
respect  for  England,  Longfellow  did  for  the  con- 
tinental nations.  None  of  the  first  German  stu- 
dents from  America,  Ticknor,  Cogswell,  Everett, 
or  Bancroft,  had  been  of  imaginative  tempera- 
ment, and  although  their  letters,  as  since  printed,2 
revealed  Germany  to  America  as  the  land  of 
learning,  it  yet  remained  for  Longfellow  to  por- 
tray all  Europe  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
pilgrim.  When  he  went  to  England  in  1835,  as 
we  shall  see,  he  carried  with  him  for  English 
publication  the  two  volumes  of  one  of  the  earli- 
est literary  tributes  paid  by  the  New  World  to 
the  Old,  "  Outre-Mer." 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Mr.  Samuel  Long- 
fellow, in  his  admirable  memoir  of  his  brother, 

1  North  American  Review,  xxix.  459. 

2  Harvard  Graduates1  Magazine,  vi.  6. 


72     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

omits  all  attempt  to  identify  the  stories  by  the 
latter  which  are  mentioned  as  appearing  in  the 
annual  called  "  The  Token,"  published  in  Boston 
and  edited  by  S.  G.  Goodrich.  This  annual  was 
the  first  of  a  series  undertaken  in  America,  on 
the  plan  of  similar  volumes  published  under  many 
names  in  England.  It  has  a  permanent  value 
for  literary  historians  in  this  country  as  contain- 
ing many  of  Hawthorne's  "  Twice-Told  Tales  " 
in  their  original  form,  but  often  left  anony- 
mous, and  sometimes  signed  only  by  his  initial 
(H.).  In  the  list  of  his  own  early  publications 
given  by  Longfellow  to  George  W.  Greene  under 
date  of  March  9, 1833,  he  includes,  "  7.  In  '.The 
Token '  for  1832,  a  story.  ...  8.  In  the  same,  for 
1833,  a  story."  To  identify  the  contributions 
thus  affords  a  curious  literary  puzzle.  The  first 
named  volume  —  "  The  Token  "  for  1832  —  con- 
tains the  tale  of  a  domestic  bereavement  under 
the  name  of  "  The  Indian  Summer ;  "  this  has 
for  a  motto  a  passage  from  "  The  Maid's  Tra- 
gedy," and  the  whole  story  is  signed  with  the 
initial  "  L."  This  would  seem  naturally  to  sug- 
gest Longfellow,  and  is  indeed  almost  conclusive. 
Yet  curiously  enough  there  is  in  the  same  volume 
a  short  poem  called  "  La  Doncella,"  translated 
from  the  Spanish  and  signed  "  L.  .  .  .,"  which 
is  quite  in  the  line  of  the  Spanish  versions  he 
was  then  writing,  although  not  included  in  Mr. 


THE  CORNER  STONE  LAID  73 

Scudder's  list  of  his  juvenile  or  unacknowledged 
poems.  To  complicate  the  matter  still  farther, 
there  is  also  a  story  called  "  David  Whicher," 
dated  Bowdoin  College,  June  1, 1831,  this  being 
a  period  when  Longfellow  was  at  work  there, 
and  yet  this  story  is  wholly  remote  in  style  from 
"  The  Indian  Summer,"  being  a  rather  rough  and 
vernacular  woodman's  tale.  Of  the  two,  "  The 
Indian  Summer "  seems  altogether  the  more 
likely  to  be  his  work,  and  indeed  bears  a  dis- 
tinct likeness  to  the  equally  tragic  tale  of  "  Jac- 
queline "  in  "  Outre-Mer,"  —  the  one  describ- 
ing the  funeral  of  a  young  girl  in  America,  the 
other  in  Europe,  both  of  them  having  been  sug- 
gested, possibly,  by  the  recent  death  of  his  own 
sister. 

In  the  second  volume  of  "  The  Token  "  (1833) 
the  puzzle  is  yet  greater,  for  though  there  are 
half  a  dozen  stories  without  initials,  or  other 
clue  to  authorship,  yet  not  one  of  them  suggests 
Longfellow  at  all,  or  affords  the  slightest  clue  by 
which  it  can  be  connected  with  him,  while  on  the 
other  hand  there  is  a  poem  occupying  three  pages 
and  signed  H.  W.  L.,  called  "  An  Evening  in  Au- 
tumn." This  was  never  included  by  him  among 
his  works,  nor  does  it  appear  in  the  list  of  his  ju- 
venile poems  and  translations  in  the  Appendix  to 
Mr.  Scudder's  edition  of  his  "  Complete  Poetical 
Works,"  yet  the  initials  leave  hardly  a  doubt 


74     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

that  it  was  written  by  him.  Why,  then,  was  it 
not  mentioned  in  this  list  sent  to  Mr.  George  W. 
Greene,  or  did  he  by  a  slip  of  the  pen  record  it 
as  a  story  and  not  as  a  poem  ?  Perhaps  no  so- 
lution of  this  conundrum  will  ever  be  given,  but 
it  would  form  a  valuable  contribution  to  the 
record  of  his  literary  dawning.  Judging  from 
the  evidence  now  given,  the  most  probable  hy- 
pothesis would  seem  to  be  that  the  two  contri- 
butions which  Longfellow  meant  to  enumerate 
were  the  story  called  "  An  Indian  Summer  "  in 
"  The  Token  "  for  1832,  and  a  poem,  not  a  story, 
in  "  The  Token  "  for  1833.  Even  against  this 
theory  there  is  the  objection  to  be  made  that  the 
editor  of  "  The  Token,"  Samuel  G.  Goodrich,  in 
his  "  Recollections  of  a  Lifetime  "  (New  York, 
1856),  after  mentioning  Longfellow  casually,  at 
the  very  end  of  his  list  of  writers,  says  of  him, 
"  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  latter,  Longfellow, 
wrote  prose,  and  at  that  period  had  shown  neither 
a  strong  bias  nor  a  particular  talent  for  poetry." 
It  is  farther  noticeable  that  in  his  index  to  this 
book,  Mr.  Goodrich  does  not  find  room  for  Long- 
fellow's name  at  all.1 

It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  at  the  very  time 

when  Longfellow  was  writing  these  somewhat 

trivial  contributions  for  "  The  Token,"  he  was 

also  engaged  on  an  extended  article  for  "  The 

1  Goodrich's  Recollections  of  a  Lifetime,  ii.  263,  560. 


THE  CORNER  STONE  LAID      75 

North  American  •  Review,"  which  was  a  great 
advance  upon  all  that  he  had  before  published. 
His  previous  papers  had  all  been  scholarly, 
but  essentially  academic.  They  had  all  lain 
in  the  same  general  direction  with  Ticknor's 
"  History  of  Spanish  Literature,"  and  had 
shared  its  dryness.  But  when  he  wrote,  at 
twenty-four,  an  article  for  "  The  North  American 
Review"  of  January,  1832,1  called  "The  De- 
fence of  Poetry,"  taking  for  his  theme  Sir  Philip 
Sidney's  "  Defence  of  Poesy,"  just  then  repub- 
lished  in  the  "  Library  of  the  Old  English  Prose 
Writers,"  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  it  was  in  a  man- 
ner a  prediction  of  Emerson's  oration,  "  The 
American  Scholar,"  five  years  later.  So  truly 
stated  were  his  premises  that  they  are  still  valid 
and  most  important  for  consideration  to-day, 
after  seventy  years  have  passed.  It  is  thus  that 
his  appeal  begins  :  — 

..."  With  us,  the  spirit  of  the  age  is  clam- 
orous for  utility,  —  for  visible,  tangible  utility, 
—  for  bare,  brawny,  muscular  utility.  We  would 
be  roused  to  action  by  the  voice  of  the  populace, 
and  the  sounds  of  the  crowded  mart,  and  not 
'lulled  to  sleep  in  shady  idleness  with  poet's 
pastimes.'  We  are  swallowed  up  in  schemes 
for  gain,  and  engrossed  with  contrivances  for 
bodily  enjoyments,  as  if  this  particle  of  dust 
1  North  American  Review,  xxxiv.  56. 


76     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

were  immortal,  —  as  if  the  soul  needed  no  ali- 
ment, and  the  mind  no  raiment.  We  glory  in 
the  extent  of  our  territory,  in  our  rapidly  in- 
creasing population,  in  our  agricultural  privi- 
leges, and  our  commercial  advantages.  .  .  .  We 
boast  of  the  increase  and  extent  of  our  physical 
strength,  the  sound  of  populous  cities,  breaking 
the  silence  and  solitude  of  our  Western  territo- 
ries, —  plantations  conquered  from  the  forest, 
and  gardens  springing  up  in  the  wilderness. 
Yet  the  true  glory  of  a  nation  consists  not  in 
the  extent  of  its  territory,  the  pomp  of  its  for- 
ests, the  majesty  of  its  rivers,  the  height  of  its 
mountains  and  the  beauty  of  its  sky ;  but  in  the 
extent  of  its  mental  power,  —  the  majesty  of  its 
intellect,  —  the  height  and  depth  and  purity  of 
its  moral  nature.  .  .  .  True  greatness  is  the 
greatness  of  the  mind;  —  the  true  glory  of  a 
nation  is  moral  and  intellectual  preeminence."  * 
"Not  he  alone,"  the  poet  boldly  goes  on, 
"  does  service  to  the  State,  whose  wisdom  guides 
her  councils  at  home,  nor  he  whose  voice  asserts 
her  dignity  abroad.  A  thousand  little  rills, 
springing  up  in  the  retired  walks  of  life,  go  to 
swell  the  rushing  tide  of  national  glory  and  pros- 
perity ;  and  whoever  in  the  solitude  of  his  cham- 
ber, and  by  even  a  single  effort  of  his  mind,  has 
added  to  the  intellectual  preeminence  of  his 

1  North  American  Review,  xxxiv.  59. 


THE  CORNER  STONE  LAID     11 

country,  has  not  lived  in  vain,  nor  to  himself 
alone."  1 

He  goes  on  to  argue,  perhaps  needlessly,  in 
vindication  of  poetry  for  its  own  sake  and  for 
the  way  in  which  it  combines  itself  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  nation,  and  expresses  the  spirit  of 
that  nation.  He  then  proceeds  to  a  direct  appeal 
in  behalf  of  that  very  spirit.  Addressing  the 
poets  of  America  he  says,  "  To  those  of  them 
who  may  honor  us  by  reading  our  article,  we 
would  whisper  this  request,  —  that  they  should 
be  more  original,  and  withal  more  national.  It 
seems  every  way  important,  that  now,  whilst  we 
are  forming  our  literature,  we  should  make  it  as 
original,  characteristic,  and  national  as  possible. 
To  effect  this,  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  war- 
whoop  should  ring  in  every  line,  and  every  page 
be  rife  with  scalps,  tomahawks,  and  wampum. 
Shade  of  Tecumseh  forbid  !  —  The  whole  secret 
lies  in  Sidney's  maxim,  —  'Look  in  thy  heart 
and  write.' "  2 

He  then  points  out  that  while  a  national 
literature  strictly  includes  "  every  mental  effort 
made  by  the  inhabitants  of  a  country  through 
the  medium  of  the  press,"  yet  no  literature  can 
be  national  in  the  highest  sense  unless  it  "  bears 
upon  it  the  stamp  of  national  character."  This 
he  illustrates  by  calling  attention  to  certain  local 
1  North  American  Review,  xxxiv.  61.  2  Ib.  69. 


78     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

peculiarities  of  English  poetry  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  southern  nations  of  Europe.  He 
gives  examples  to  show  that  the  English  poets 
excel  their  rivals  in  their  descriptions  of  morn- 
ing and  evening,  this  being  due,  he  thinks,  to 
their  longer  twilights  in  both  directions.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  greater  dreaminess  and  more 
abundant  figurative  language  of  southern  na- 
tions are  qualities  which  he  attributes  to  their 
soft,  voluptuous  climate,  where  the  body  lies  at 
ease  and  suffers  the  dream  fancy  "  to  lose  itself 
in  idle  reverie  and  give  a  form  to  the  wind  and 
a  spirit  to  the  shadow  and  the  leaf."  He  then 
sums  up  his  argument. 

"  We  repeat,  then,  that  we  wish  our  native 
poets  would  give  a  more  national  character  to 
their  writings.  In  order  to  effect  this,  they  have 
only  to  write  more  naturally,  to  write  from  their 
own  feelings  and  impressions,  from  the  influence 
of  what  they  see  around  them,  and  not  from  any 
preconceived  notions  of  what  poetry  ought  to 
be,  caught  by  reading  many  books  and  imitat- 
ing many  models.  This  is  peculiarly  true  in  de- 
scriptions of  natural  scenery.  In  these,  let  us 
have  no  more  sky-larks  and  nightingales.  For 
us  they  only  warble  in  books.  A  painter  might 
as  well  introduce  an  elephant  or  a  rhinoceros 
into  a  New  England  landscape.  [This  comes, 
we  must  remember,  from  the  young  poet  who 


THE  CORNER  STONE  LAID  79 

had  written  in  his  "  Angler's  Song  "  six  years 
before,  — 

"Upward  speeds  the  morning  lark 
To  its  silver  cloud."] 

We  would  not  restrict  our  poets  in  the  choice 
of  their  subjects,  or  the  scenes  of  their  story ; 
but  when  they  sing  under  an  American  sky,  and 
describe  a  native  landscape,  let  the  description 
be  graphic,  as  if  it  had  been  seen  and  not  im- 
agined. We  wish,  too,  to  see  the  figures  and 
imagery  of  poetry  a  little  more  characteristic,  as 
if  drawn  from  nature  and  not  from  books.  Of 
this  we  have  constantly  recurring  examples  in 
the  language  of  our  North  American  Indians. 
Our  readers  will  all  recollect  the  last  words  of 
Pushmataha,  the  Choctaw  chief,  who  died  at 
Washington  in  the  year  1824 :  '  I  shall  die,  but 
you  will  return  to  your  brethren.  As  you  go 
along  the  paths,  you  will  see  the  flowers  and  hear 
the  birds ;  but  Pushmataha  will  see  them  and 
hear  them  no  more.  When  you  come  to  your 
home,  they  will  ask  you,  where  is  Pushmataha? 
and  you  will  say  to  them,  He  is  no  more.  They 
will  hear  the  tidings  like  the  sound  of  the  fall 
of  a  mighty  oak  in  the  stillness  of  the  wood. 
More  attention  on  the  part  of  our  writers  to 
these  particulars  would  give  a  new  and  delight- 
ful expression  to  the  face  of  our  poetry.  But 
the  difficulty  is,  that  instead  of  coming  forward 


80     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

as  bold,  original  thinkers,  they  have  imbibed  the 
degenerate  spirit  of  modern  English  poetry."  x 
What  is  meant  by  this  last  passage  is  seen  when 
he  goes  on  to  point  out  that  each  little  village 
then  had  "  its  little  Byron,  its  self -tormenting 
scoffer  at  morality,  its  gloomy  misanthropist  in 
song,"  and  that  even  Wordsworth,  in  some  re- 
spects an  antidote  to  Byron,  was  as  yet  "  a  very 
unsafe  model  for  imitation  ; "  and  he  farther 
points  out  "  how  invariably  those  who  have  im- 
itated him  have  fallen  into  tedious  mannerisms." 
He  ends  with  a  moral,  perhaps  rather  tamely 
stated :  "  We  hope,  however,  that  ere  long  some 
one  of  our  most  gifted  bards  will  throw  his 
fetters  off,  and  relying  on  himself  alone,  fathom 
the  recesses  of  his  own  mind,  and  bring  up  rich 
pearls  from  the  secret  depths  of  thought."  2 

"  The  true  glory  of  a  nation  "  —  this  is  his 
final  attitude  —  "  is  moral  and  intellectual  pre- 
eminence ; "  thus  distinctly  foreshadowing  the 
title  of  his  friend  Charles  Sumner's  later  ora- 
tion, "  The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations."  Ameri- 
can literature  had  undoubtedly  begun  to  exist 
before  this  claim  was  made,  as  in  the  prose  of 
Irving  and  Cooper,  the  poetry  of  Dana  and 
Bryant.  But  it  had  awaited  the  arrival  of  some 
one  to  formulate  its  claims,  and  this  it  found 
in  Longfellow. 

1  North  American  Review,  xxxiv.  74, 75.      2  16.  78. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

APPOINTMENT  AT   HARVARD  AND   SECOND  VISIT 
TO   EUROPE 

WHILE  he  was  thus  occupied  with  thoughts 
and  studies  which  proved  to  be  more  far-seeing 
than  he  knew,  the  young  professor  was  em- 
barrassed by  financial  difficulties  in  which  the 
college  found  itself ;  and  he  began  after  three 
years  to  consider  the  possibility  of  a  transfer  to 
other  scenes,  perhaps  to  some  professorship  in 
New  York  or  Virginia. 

The  following  letter,  hitherto  unpublished, 
gives  us  the  view  taken  in  the  Longfellow  house 
of  another  project,  namely,  that  of  his  succeed- 
ing to  the  charge  of  the  then  famous  Round 
Hill  School  at  Northampton,  about  to  be  aban- 
doned by  its  projector,  Joseph  G.  Cogswell.  The 
quiet  judgment  of  the  young  wife  thus  sums  it 
up  in  writing  to  her  sister-in-law :  — 

Sunday  afternoon  [February,  1834]. 

.  .  .  Henry  left  us  Friday  noon  in  the  mail 
for  Boston,  as  George  will  tell  you.  I  do  not 
like  the  idea  of  his  going  to  Northampton  at 
all  —  although  it  would  be  a  most  beautiful 


82     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

place  to  reside  in.  Still  I  feel  sure  he  would 
not  like  the  care  of  a  school,  and  such  an  exten- 
sive establishment  as  that  is  too.  He  heard  that 
Mr.  Cogswell  was  to  leave  them  for  Raleigh  and 
wrote  him  —  in  answer  to  which  he  received  a 
long  letter,  wishing  him  much  to  take  the  place, 
&c. ;  which  determined  him  to  go  immediately 
to  Northampton.  He  requires  $  1600  to  be  ad- 
vanced, and  it  would  be  incurring  a  certain  ex- 
pense upon  a  great  uncertainty  of  gaining  more 
than  a  living  there.  I  do  not  think  Henry  cal- 
culated at  all  for  such  a  situation.  If  he  dislikes 
so  much  the  care  of  such  a  little  family  as  ours, 
how  can  he  expect  to  like  the  multifarious  cares 
of  such  a  large  one !  He  has  promised  not  to 
decide  upon  anything  till  he  returns,  and  I  feel 
so  confident  that  all  uninterested-  persons  will 
dissuade  him  from  it,  that  I  rest  quite  at  ease. 
I  wished  him  to  go  to  satisfy  himself,  he  was  so 
very  sanguine  as  to  the  result  of  it.  We  expect 
him  home  the  last  of  next  week.  This  North- 
ampton business  is  a  profound  secret  and  is  not 
mentioned  out  of  the  family  ! 

Another  extract  from  the  same  correspondent 
shows  us  how  Longfellow  was  temporarily  influ- 
enced at  Brunswick,  like  Lowell  afterwards  at 
Cambridge,  by  the  marked  hygienic  and  even 
ascetic  atmosphere  of  the  period ;  an  influence 


APPOINTMENT  AT  HARVARD          83 

apparently  encouraged  in  both  cases  by  their 
young  wives,  yet  leaving  no  permanent  trace 
upon  the  habits  of  either  poet,  —  habits  always 
moderate,  in  both  cases,  but  never  in  the  literal 
sense  abstemious. 

Friday  evening  [April,  1834]. 

.  .  .  He  has  gone  to  a  Temperance  Lecture 
this  evening.  He  intends  becoming  a  member 
of  the  Temperance  Society;  indeed  I  do  not 
know  but  he  has  signed  the  paper  already.  He 
is  a  good  little  dear,  and  I  approve  of  every- 
thing (almost  smoking)  he  does.  He  is  becom- 
ing an  advocate  of  vegetable  diet,  Dr.  Mussey's 
hobby ;  and  Clara  and  I  have  nothing  but  lec- 
tures from  him  and  Alexander,  upon  corsets. 

The  following  extract  gives  us  a  glimpse  of 
his  literary  work :  — 

BRUNSWICK,  Nov.  2,  1834. 

Henry  comes  on  famously  with  Outre  Mer. 
The  No.  on  Spain  is  finished  and  that  on  Italy 
will  be  before  Thanksgiving.  It  is  by  far  more 
interesting  than  any  of  the  other  No's.  Henry 
thinks  himself  it  is  much  superior  in  point  of 
interest  and  in  style.  I  presume  he  will  have 
the  remaining  No's  published  together  in  N.  Y. 
this  winter. 


84     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

In  the  midst  of  such  literary  and  household 
cares  he  received  the  following  letter  :  — 

CAMBRIDGE,  December  1,  1834. 

DEAR  SIK,  —  Professor  Ticknor  has  given 
notice  that  it  is  his  intention  to  resign  his  office 
of  Smith  Professor  of  Modern  Languages  in 
Harvard  University,  as  soon  as  the  Corporation 
shall  have  fixed  upon  a  successor. 

The  duty  of  nominating  to  that  office  de- 
volves upon  me  ;  and  after  great  deliberation 
and  inquiry  my  determination  is  made  to  nomi- 
nate you  for  that  office  under  circumstances 
which  render  your  appointment  not  doubtful, — 
provided  I  receive  a  previous  assurance  from 
you  of  your  acceptance  of  it.  To  ascertain  this 
is  the  object  of  the  present  letter. 

The  salary  will  be  fifteen  hundred  dollars  a 
year.  Residence  in  Cambridge  will  be  required. 
The  duties  of  the  professorship  will  be  of  course 
those  which  are  required  from  the  occupant  of  a 
full  professorship,  and  such  as  the  Corporation 
and  the  Overseers  may  appoint.  If  a  relation 
such  as  I  suggest  with  this  university  be  accept- 
able to  you,  I  shall  be  obliged  by  an  early  an- 
swer. 

Should  it  be  your  wish,  previously  to  enter- 
ing upon  the  duties  of  the  office,  to  reside  in 
Europe,  at  your  own  expense,  a  year  or  eighteen 


APPOINTMENT  AT  HARVARD          85 

months  for  the  purpose  of  a  more  perfect  attain- 
ment of  the  German,  Mr.  Ticknor  will  retain 
his  office  till  your  return. 
Very  respectfully,  I  am 

Yours,  etc.,  etc.,        JOSIAH  QuiNCY.1 

"  Good  fortune  comes  at  last  and  I  certainly 
shall  not  reject  it,"  the  young  Longfellow  wrote 
to  his  father.  "  The  last  paragraph  of  the  let- 
ter," he  adds, "  though  put  in  the  form  of  a  per- 
mission, seems  to  imply  a  request.  I  think  I 
shall  accept  that  also."  Some  additional  corre- 
spondence, however,  proved  necessary,  such  as 
follows :  — 

HON.  JOSIAH  QUINCY  : 

SIR,  —  Your  letter  of  to-day  inclosing  the 
Vote  of  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Hard  Uni- 
versity in  relation  to  the  Professorship  of  Modn 
Lang8  has  been  received,  and  in  expressing  anew 
my  desire  to  meet  your  wishes  fully  in  the  mat- 
ter before  us,  I  beg  leave  to  defer  an  official 
answer  until  my  return  from  the  South,  in 
about  three  weeks  hence. 

In  the  mean  time  may  I  take  the  liberty  of 

calling  your  attention  once  more  to  the  subject 

of  our  last  conversation?     I  feel  it  important 

that  I   should   be   regularly   appointed   before 

1  Life,  i.  205 ;  also  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  vi.  290. 


86     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

sailing  for  Europe.  Otherwise  I  present  myself 
as  any  private  individual  whatever.  But  if  I 
go  as  one  of  your  professors,  I  carry  with  me  in 
that  very  circumstance  my  best  letter  of  recom- 
mendation. It  gives  me  a  character  —  and  a 
greater  claim  to  attention  abroad,  than  I  can 
otherwise  take  with  me.  Judge  Story  is  ready 
to  consent  to  this  arrangement  —  so  is  Mr. 
Gray  —  so  is  Mr.  Ticknor.  If  you  could  bring 
the  subject  once  more  before  the  corporation,  I 
think  the  objections  suggested  by  you  when  I 
saw  you  this  morning  will  be  found  to  give  way 
before  the  good  results,  which  I  think  may  be 
reasonably  anticipated  from  change  in  your  vote 
where  respectfully  suggested. 

Very  respect'y 

f.  Ob?  Ser* 
HENKY  W.  LONGFELLOW.* 

BOSTON,  Jany  1,  1834.  [Error  for  1835.] 

HON.  JOSIAH  QUINCY  : 

SIR,  —  Placing  entire  confidence  in  the  assur- 
ances of  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Harvard 
University  in  reference  to  my  election  to  the 
Smith  Professorship  of  Modern  Languages  and 
Belles  Lettres  in  that  institution,  which  assur- 
ances were  communicated  to  me  in  yr  favor  of 
1st  January,  together  with  their  Vote  upon  the 

1  Harvard  College  Papers,  2d  ser.  vii.  1. 


SECOND   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  87 

subject,  —  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you,  that 
I  shall  sail  for  Europe  in  the  month  of  April 
next,  and  remain  there  till  the  summer  of  1836. 
Very  respectfully 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW.* 

PORTLAND,  February  3,  1835. 

His  first  book,  in  a  strict  sense,  published  be- 
fore his  departure,  was  his  translation  of  the 
"  Coplas  of  Jorge  Manrique  "  (1833),  in  which 
were  added  to  the  main  poem  a  few  translations 
of  sonnets,  the  whole  being  prefaced  with  an 
article  from  "  The  North  American  Review  "  on 
the  "Moral  and  Devotional  Poetry  of  Spain." 
It  was  these  works  which  had  attracted  the 
attention  of  Professor  Ticknor,  and  had  led 
to  results  so  important.  The  young  professor 
sailed  at  the  time  mentioned,  accompanied  by 
his  wife  and  two  young  ladies,  her  friends. 

His  first  aim  was  Sweden,  but  he  spent  a  few 
weeks  in  London,  where  he  met,  among  others, 
Carlyle.  So  little  has  hitherto  been  recorded 
of  this  part  of  Longfellow's  life  or  of  his  early 
married  life  in  any  way,  that  I  am  glad  to  be 
able  to  describe  it  from  the  original  letters  of 
the  young  wife,  which  are  now  in  my  possession, 
and  are  addressed  mainly  to  Mrs.  Longfellow, 
her  mother-in-law.  She  seems  to  have  enjoyed 

1  Harvard  College  Papers,  2d  ser.  vii.  10. 


88     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

her  travelling  experiences  very  thoroughly,  and 
writes  in  one  case,  "  We  are  generally  taken 
for  French  .  .  .  and  I  am  always  believed  to 
be  Henry's  sister.  They  say  to  me,  '  What  a 
resemblance  between  your  brother  and  self ! '  " 

Sunday  afternoon,  May  31,  1835. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER,  —  I  wrote  you  a  very  few 
lines,  in  great  haste,  in  Henry's  letter  to  his 
Father,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  your  kind 
letter.  I  hope  that  you  will  write  us  as  often 
as  your  many  cares  will  permit,  &  be  assured 
that  even  a  few  lines  will  always  be  welcomed 
with  delight  by  your  absent  children.  We  have 
passed  our  time  very  delightfully  in  London. 
The  only  difficulty  is  —  there  is  so  much  to  be 
seen  &  so  little  time  to  see  it  in.  We  have,  how- 
ever, seen  many  of  the  principal  points.  Last 
Monday  we  passed  very  delightfully  at  Shirley 
Park,  near  the  little  village  of  Croydon.  The 
ride  is  through  a  very  beautiful  country.  We 
passed  several  gipsy  encampments,  in  the  most 
picturesque  situations.  Shirley  Park  is  a  truly 
delightful  place.  The  house,  which  is  a  very 
fine  one,  is  placed  on  a  beautiful  spot,  &  there 
are  fine  views  from  all  sides  of  it.  Mrs.  Skin- 
ner, the  lady  of  the  place,  is  a  very  agreeable 
amiable  lady  —  She  took  us  all  over  the  grounds 
in  her  carriage,  &  was  very  kind  &  attentive 


SECOND  VISIT  TO  EUROPE  89 

to  us.  Her  house  is  thronged  with  visitors,  the 
great,  the  fashionable,  &  the  literati  all  pay 
their  court  to  her.  She  is  a  great  admirer 
of  Willis's,  &  thinks  his  writings  superior  to 
Irving' sf — On  Wednesday  we  visited  the  Na- 
tional Gallery,  the  finest  collection  of  old  paint- 
ings in  the  city.  We  saw  while  we  were  there, 
the  Queen  pass  into  the  city,  attended  by  the 
horse-guards  in  their  beautiful  uniforms.  Five 
or  six  carriages  passed  with  a  coachman  &  two 
footmen  to  each,  lost  almost  in  the  quantity  of 
gold  lace  which  covered  them.  Last  of  all  came 
her  Majesty's  carriage  with  two  coachmen  & 
four  footmen  in  the  same  magnificent  livery. 
Thursday  was  the  king's  birth  day.  The  draw- 
ing room  was  the  most  splendid  one  that  had 
ever  been  seen  —  so  Willis  says.  In  the  eve'g 
there  was  a  grand  illumination.  About  ten 
Henry  and  Mr.  Frazer  went  out  to  see  it.  The 
crowd  was  so  immense,  that  it  was  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  they  made  their  way  home. 
Four  women  from  St.  Giles's  armed  with  large 
clubs  pointed  with  iron,  passed  through  the 
crowd  striking  in  all  directions.  We  took  a 
carriage  &  drove  to  see  the  illuminations.  It  was 
after  eleven  &  the  crowd  had  nearly  dispersed. 
There  were  brilliant  crowns  &  a  variety  of  pretty 
devices  formed  with  coloured  lamps  &  some  very 
fine  gas  ones.  I  suspect  however  there  was  very 


90     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

little  true  rejoicing  in  all  this  show  &  splendour. 
The  Queen  is  very  unpopular  among  the  people. 
Friday  morn'g  —  Willis  called.  He  had  been 
to  breakfast  with  the  beautiful  Mrs.  Wadsworth, 
&  was  on  his  way,  to  breakfast  at  3  in  the  aft. 
with  the  Duchess  of  St.  Albans.  Mrs.  Wads- 
worth,  from  Genesseo,  was  a  Philadelphia  lady 
&  has  been  greatly  admired  on  the  continent  & 
here.  She  returns  in  a  few  days  to  America. 
Yesterday  morning  Mr.  Barnard  a  young  lawyer 
from  Connecticut  called  upon  me.  He  arrived 
but  a  month  before  us,  &  takes  much  the  same 
route  as  we  do,  though  a  more  extensive  one. 
He  will  be  in  Stockholm  in  the  course  of  the 
summer.  Mr.  Carlyle  of  Craigenputtock  was 
soon  after  announced,  &  passed  an  half  hour 
with  us  much  to  our  delight.  He  has  very  un- 
polished manners,  &  broad  Scottish  accent,  but 
such  fine  language  &  beautiful  thoughts  that  it 
is  truly  delightful  to  listen  to  him.  Perhaps  you 
have  read  some  of  his  articles  in  the  Edinburgh 
Review.  He  invited  us  to  take  tea  with  him 
at  Chelsea,  where  they  now  reside.  We  were 
as  much  charmed  with  Mrs.  C  [arlyle]  as  with 
her  husband.  She  is  a  lovely  woman  with  very 
simple  &  pleasing  manners.  She  is  also  very 
talented  &  accomplished,  &  how  delightful  it 
is  to  see  such  modesty  combined  with  such  power 
to  please.  On  Tuesday  we  visit  Chantrey's 


SECOND   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  91 

study  with  them.  This  morning  Mr.  Bentham, 
a  nephew  of  Jeremy's,  called,  &  invited  us  to 
dine  with  them  on  "Wednesday  —  We  may  see 
the  great  potentate  appear.  Henry  is  petition- 
ing for  room  to  write,  &  saying  that  I  must  re- 
tire, but  I  must  tell  you  my  dreams.  A  few 
nights  since  I  heard  Samuel  [Longfellow]  preach 
for  Dr.  Nichols.  Last  night  I  dreamt  I  was  with 
my  father  &  sisters,  telling  them  of  all  I  had 
seen.  I  only  went  to  America  to  make  a  call  & 
tell  you  all  we  had  safely  arrived,  &  was  to  re- 
turn immediately.  You  will  give  very  much 
love  to  all  for  me.  They  must  all  write  me,  & 
their  letters  shall  be  answered  as  speedily  as 
possible.  We  leave  here  the  last  of  this  week. 
I  shall  leave  letters  to  be  sent  by  the  first  oppor- 
tunity. George  &  Ann  must  not  forget  us. 
Your  ever  affectionate 

MARY. 

The  Carlyles  are  again  mentioned  in  a  letter 
written  while  crossing  the  German  Ocean. 

STEAM  SHIP,  GERMAN  OCEAN, 

Thursday,  June  11  [1835]. 

.  .  .  We  have  some  very  pleasant  passengers. 
A  German  lady  with  her  father  and  little  girl. 
What  a  strange  idea  foreigners  have  of  America ! 
This  lady  who  appears  very  intelligent  asked  us 
if  America  was  anything  like  London  !  !  Then 


92     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

we  have  a  German  Prince  with  huge  mustachios ; 
Clara  played  whist  with  him  last  evening !  Oh 
dear !  I  do  not  know  as  I  shall  be  able  to  speak 
to  you  when  I  return,  I  see  so  many  lords  and 
ladies !  but  in  reality  these  lords  and  ladies  are 
not  half  as  agreeable  people  as  some  of  Henry's 
literary  friends.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carlyle  have 
more  genuine  worth  and  talent  than  half  of  the 
nobility  in  London.  Mr.  Carlyle's  literary  fame 
is  very  high,  and  she  is  a  very  talented  woman 
—  but  they  are  people  after  my  own  heart  — 
not  the  least  pretension  about  them.  Mrs.  Car- 
lyle has  a  pin  with  Goethe's  head  upon  it,  which 
that  great  author  sent  her  himself.  She  is  very 
proud  of  it  I  assure  you.  They  live  very  retired, 
not  wishing  to  mix  with  fashionable  society, 
which  they  regard  in  its  true  light ;  still  they 
have  some  friends  among  the  nobility  who  know 
how  to  value  them. 

STOCKHOLM,  August  5, 1835. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER,  —  I  hope  you  have  re- 
ceived my  letter  to  you  from  London  ere  this. 
We  sent  letters  home  from  here  July  21st  by 
Capt.  Symons  directly  to  Boston  —  it  was  as 
soon  as  possible  after  our  arrival ;  among  them 
Henry  sent  a  letter  to  his  father,  &  I  to  Mary, 
Sam  &  Anne.  I  was  quite  delighted  to  receive 
a  letter  from  Mary  &  Sam  —  hope  they  will  write 


SECOND   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  93 

me  often.  Since  our  last  letters  we  have  re- 
moved our  lodgings  to  "  No.  5.  Clara  Sodra 
Kyko  Gatan."  We  have  more  rooms  but  not 
as  good  ones  as  in  the  Droteninggatan.  We 
have  made  some  very  pleasant  acquaintances 
here.  July  15th  we  dined  at  Mr.  Arfwedson's 

—  the  father  of  the  gentleman  who  married  an 

American  lady.     Mr.  A resides  at  Liston 

Hill  in  the  Park  —  he  has  a  little  English  cot- 
tage, built  by  Sir  Robert  Liston,  formerly  Eng- 
lish minister  to  this  court.     It  is  a  sweet  spot 

—  the  Maler  flows  almost  directly  beneath  the 
windows  of  the  cottage  —  a  little  flower  garden 
is  upon  its  banks,  &  a  fine  grove  of  trees  in  the 
rear  of  the  cottage.     Mr.  Arfwedson  is  a  fine 
old  man  —  his  wife  has  been  dead  several  years. 
The  only  ladies  present  were  our  countrywoman 
Mrs.  A &  the  eldest  daughter  of  Mr.  Arf- 
wedson —  the  wife  of  Baron  S She  is  a 

very  delicate  and  graceful  lady,  was  dressed  very 
tastefully  &  altogether  unlike  the  Swedish  ladies 
we  had  before  seen.     Mr.  A's  second  daughter 
is  just  married  to  a  brother  of  her  sister's  hus- 
band who  is  also  a  Baron.     They  went  immedi- 
ately to  Copenhagen,  we  have  not  therefore  seen 
her,  but  have  heard  much  of  her  great  beauty. 
There  were  a  number  of  gentlemen  present  at 
dinner,   several  of  which  were  English.      The 
dinner  table  was  by  far  the  prettiest  we  have 


94     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

seen  in  Sweden.  .  .  .  The  dessert  plates  were 
very  beautiful,  white  china  —  upon  each  of  which 
was  a  different  flower  elegantly  painted.  After 
coffee  the  gentleman  proposed  a  drive  to  Rosen- 
dale,  a  little  palace  in  the  park.  It  is  the  fa- 
vorite spot  of  king  Bernadotte.  We  first  went 
to  the  splendid  porphyry  vase,  which  stands  in 
the  centre  of  the  flower  garden  back  of  the  pal- 
ace. The  top  of  this  celebrated  &  immense  vase 
is  cut  from  a  single  block  of  porphyry.  Sweden 
is  very  celebrated  for  its  fine  porphyry.  The 
lower  rooms  of  the  palace  are  handsomely  fur- 
nished, but  the  upper  ones  are  quite  splendid. 
All  the  rooms  were  carpeted  with  beautiful  car- 
pets —  the  walls  were  hung  with  silk  damask  — 
each  room  a  different  color,  with  curtains,  sofas 
&  chairs  to  correspond.  One  room  was  hung 
with  white  damask,  &  the  chairs  &  sofa  were 
covered  with  beautiful  embroidery  —  the  ground 
of  which  was  white,  wrought  by  the  Queen  & 
her  maids  of  honor.  There  was  a  great  profu- 
sion of  this  beautiful  embroidery  —  fire  screens, 
ottomans,  &c  —  The  chandeliers,  mirrors  &  can- 
delabras  were  very  elegant.  In  one  room  was  a 
portrait  of  the  king,  which  was  very  like  him. 
In  another  that  of  the  Queen  —  much  flattered. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  a  merchant  of  Marseilles. 
There  are  no  bed-chambers  in  this  palace.  The 
king  very  rarely  sleeps  out  of  his  palace  in  town. 


SECOND   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  95 

We  returned  to  Mr.  Arfwedson's  &  took  tea. 

Mrs.  A is  very  accomplished,   she  speaks 

nearly  all  the  modern  languages.  She  invited 
us  to  dine  with  them  on  the  next  Sabbath. 

July  16th.  We  dined  at  Mr.  Stockoe's,  a 
partner  of  Mr.  Erskine's.  We  met  quite  a  large 
&  pleasant  party  there.  The  Stockoe's  are  ex- 
cellent, kind-hearted  people.  They  have  paid 
us  every  attention.  Mrs.  S sends  us  pre- 
sents of  fruits  &  flowers,  &  all  those  little  at- 
tentions which  it  is  so  agreeable  to  receive.  — 
I  was  quite  unwell  on  Sunday,  on  account  of 
a  very  long  walk  the  evening  previous.  I  did 
not  therefore  go  to  young  Arfwedson's.  Clara 

&  H went  &   had  a  very   pleasant   visit. 

They  met  there  Baron  Stackelberg,  who  was 
Swedish  minister  in  America  fourteen  years. 
He  returned  but  two  years  since.  He  has  called 
upon  us  several  times  since,  &  is  a  jovial  old 
man  with  perfectly  white  hair  &  whiskers. 
July  22nd.  The  Stockoe's  invited  us  to  drive 
out  to  Haga  with  them.  We  went  out  at  six  in 
the  evening.  This  palace  is  about  two  English 
miles  from  town.  It  was  built  by  Gustavus 
the  3rd,  &  was  his  favorite  residence.  The  fur- 
niture was  very  old,  but  there  is  one  fine  room 
lined  with  mirrors.  In  the  drawing  room  is  a 
centre  table  with  a  deep  top  &  pots  of  flowers 
placed  in  it.  This  top  was  covered  entirely  with 


96     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

moss,  this  had  a  very  pretty  effect,  especially  as 
there  were  a  variety  of  flowers  all  in  bloom. 
The  table  was  on  castors  &  could  be  placed  in  any 
position.  .  .  .  We  were  shown  three  very  small 
chambers,  where  Gustavus  the  4th  was  impris- 
oned after  he  was  dethroned.  His  queen  lived 
with  him  there.  In  another  building,  a  pavilion, 
were  some  rooms  furnished  in  more  modern  style. 
The  Queen  sleeps  in  these  rooms  when  she  comes 
to  Haga,  [but]  the  royal  family  rarely  visit  this 
palace.  The  grounds  are  very  beautiful.  We 
walked  round  the  Park  to  the  famous  palace 
which  Gustavus  3d  commenced  building  aiter 
his  return  from  Italy.  Here  he  expended  two 
millions,  &  the  foundations  were  but  laid  &  the 
stones  in  readiness  for  the  walls  when  he  was 
assassinated.  The  work  was  then  immediately 
stopped  as  the  people  were  much  opposed  to  the 
undertaking.  We  saw  the  model  of  this  build- 
ing which  was  to  have  been  a  very  extensive  one. 
A  row  of  columns  all  around  it,  to  have  been 
built  in  the  Italian  style.  The  model  was  more 
like  a  temple  than  a  palace.  We  took  tea  at  a 
little  inn  in  Hagalund  &  returned  home  late  in 
the  evening —  The  king  has  a  great  number 
of  palaces  round  Stockholm,  there  are  seven  or 
eight,  &  as  many  it  is  said  in  every  province. 

We  have  a  very  pleasant  little  family  of  our 
own,  &  have  fine  times  together.     Mr.  Hughes 


SECOND   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  97 

says  "  for  one  lady  it  would  have  been  intoler- 
able, for  two  very  unpleasant ;  but  for  three 
quite  agreeable."  Henry  has  been  much  disap- 
pointed not  to  receive  a  letter  from  his  father. 
We  are  now  expecting  letters  every  day  from 
home,  &  when  Wm.  Goddard  arrives  next  month 
we  hope  to  have  many  — 

Please  to  give  my  love  to  Aunt  Lucia  &  say 
to  her  I  shall  write  her  very  soon.  Be  so  kind 
as  to  give  much  love  to  all  the  family  for  me,  & 
accept  much  love  &  respect  for  yourself  &  Mr 
Longfellow  from 

Your  ever  affectionate 

MARY 

MY  DEAREST  MOTHER,  —  As  a  little  blank 
space  is  left,  I  will  fill  it  with  a  postscript.  — 
We  have  just  returned  —  that  is  to  say,  day  be- 
fore yesterday,  —  from  a  visit  to  the  University 
of  Upsala,  and  the  Iron  mines  of  Dannemora ; 
—  of  which  Mary  will  give  you  a  description  all 
in  good  time.  We  already  begin  to  think  of 
leaving  Stockholm  —  and  shall  probably  take 
the  steamboat  to  Gothenburg  in  about  three 
weeks.  —  For  my  own  part,  I  should  like  to  go 
sooner  if  we  could.  I  am  disappointed  in  Swe- 
den. The  climate  is  too  cold  and  unpleasant. 
I  want  a  little  warm  sunshine.  Something  that 
I  can  feel,  as  well  as  see.  From  Gothenburg 


98       HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

we  shall  go  to  Copenhagen,  and  after  passing  a 
month  there,  take  steamboat  to  Stettin,  and  so 
to  Berlin.  We  shall  not  return  to  the  North 
again  but  pass  the  next  summer  in  Germany 
and  France. 

Much  love  to  all.  Very  affectionately  your 
Son 

H.  W.  LONGFELLOW 

MBS.  STEPHEN  LONGFELLOW, 

Care  of  Hon.  Stephen  Longfellow, 

Portland,  Maine, 

U.  S.  of  America. 

[TO]    HON.    STEPHEN    LONGFELLOW,    PORTLAND, 
MAINE,   U.   S.    OF  AMERICA. 

COPENHAGEN,  September  21,  1835. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  Henry  has  consented  that 
I  should  copy  a  few  pages  of  his  journal  for 
you;  but  I  could  not  prevail  on  him  to  grant 
this,  till  I  promised  again  &  again  for  you, 
that  you  would  not  on  any  condition,  allow  it  to 
go  out  of  your  house.  The  children  can  read  it 
there ;  &  I  will  ask  of  you  the  same  favor  for 
my  father  and  my  sisters,  for  I  know  they  will 
take  much  interest  in  it. 

If  it  cheers  a  lonely  winter's  evening,  or  cheats 
you  of  a  few  melancholy  hours,  I  shall  feel  most 
amply  repaid  for  the  trouble  I  have  taken. 

We  have  regretted  much  to  hear  of  your 
feeble  health,  but  hope  that  your  journey  has 


SECOND   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  99 

quite  renovated  you.  I  [was]  delighted  to 
receive  a  second  letter  from  Mrs.  L[ongfellow], 
in  a  p[ackage]  of  letters  which  reached  us  a  few 
days  since.  She  is  very  kind  to  write  me,  & 
I  shall  not  fail  to  write  her,  as  often  as  possible, 
while  absent. 

With  this  you  will  receive  a  letter  for  Aunt 
Lucia.  I  shall  answer  Mrs.  L's  letter  very 
soon. 

Henry  has  become  quite  learned  in  the  Swed- 
ish, &  can  already  translate  Danish.  He  is 
studying  Icelandic  also,  as  I  presume  he  has 
told  you.  He  is  in  fine  health  &  spirits. 

With  many  wishes  for  your  health  &  my 
Mother's,  &  with  much  respect  &  affection  for 
you  both  —  I  am  as  ever 

Your  affectionate 

MARY 

[On  outside  of  •  letter.]  September  28.  I 
have  written  by  the  same  ship  that  brings  you 
this.  H.  W.  L.  Also  a  letter  to  George. 

[Endorsement.] 
Mary  P.  Longfellow  to 
S.  Longfellow,  containing  a 
Copy  of  Henry's  Journal 

Sept.  21,  1835. l 

1  The  journal  is  missing  from  the  MS.,  having  doubtless 
been  retained  by  the  father.  A  long  extract  from  it  will  be 
found  in  the  Life,  i.  216. 


100      HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 
COPENHAGEN,  September  22, 1835. 

MY  DEAR  AUNT  LUCIA,  —  Pray  do  not  be 
alarmed  on  receiving  this  letter  for  fear  that 
you  must  answer  it.  I  have  not  hoped  such  a 
favor,  but  am  content,  however  much  I  should 
be  delighted  to  hear  from  you,  to  write  you 
occasionally  without  the  hopes  of  an  answer, 
thinking  &  knowing  you  would  be  as  happy 
to  receive  a  letter  from  me  as  any  of  my  dear 
friends.  I  received  a  very  entertaining  letter 
from  Anne  a  few  days  since.  Henry  says 
"  Anne's  letters  have  some  pith  to  them."  Pray 
urge  her  to  write  us  often,  &  I  shall  take  just 
as  much  interest  in  hearing  about  her  family 
affairs  as  if  I  was  in  Brunswick. 

And  so  you  have  made  a  visit  in  Boston,  & 
have  been  upon  railroads,  to  balloon  ascensions, 
theatres  &  I  know  not  what.  After  such  a 
quiet  life  as  you  have  passed  for  several  years, 
it  must  be  quite  a  pleasant  little  incident,  &  I 
know  that  you  must  have  enjoyed  your  visit 
much.  But,  after  all,  do  you  not  think  that 
the  pleasure  of  travelling  is  greatest  when  it 
has  been  all  passed,  &  you  are  seated  once 
more  in  your  quiet  home,  —  &  retrace  in  ima- 
gination your  wanderings  ?  It  must  be  so  —  I 
think  —  then  you  remember  only  what  is  agree- 
able, &  the  thousand  little  inconveniences,  one 
must  suffer  in  travelling,  are  forgotten. 


SECOND   VISIT  TO  EUROPE          101 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  delighted  we  all  are 
that  we  are  out  of  Sweden.  Henry  scolds  not 
a  little  that  a  summer  in  Europe  should  have 
been  passed  there. 

You  have  heard  before  this,  by  our  letters 
from  Gothenburg,  that  we  were  detained  there  a 
week,  much  against  our  will.  We  passed  the 
time,  however,  very  pleasantly.  H[enry]  de- 
livered a  letter  from  my  Uncle  Robert  [Storer] 
to  Mr.  Wijk  of  that  place,  &  he  was  very  atten- 
tive &  kind  to  us.  On  Sunday  the  6th  of  Sep- 
tember we  dined  with  him,  &  had  the  pleasure 
of  being  introduced  to  his  celebrated  lady.  She 
appears  as  his  daughter,  being  more  than  thirty 
years  younger  than  her  husband.  We  had  heard 
of  her  great  beauty  in  America.  I  cannot  say 
that  she  is  beautiful,  but  she  is  extremely  pretty 
with  very  interesting  manners.  They  have 
travelled  much  on  the  continent  &  in  Eng- 
land. The  dinner  was  much  more  American 
than  any  we  had  seen  in  Sweden.  In  the  cen- 
tre of  the  table  was  a  high  glass  dish  filled 
with  a  musk-melon  &  surrounded  with  flowers. 
The  remainder  of  the  dessert  was  not  placed 
upon  the  table,  but  came  on  after  meat,  &c.,  as  in 
our  country.  After  soup,  fish  &  meat,  we  had 
a  nice  baked  apple  pudding ;  &  after  this,  the 
cloth  was  removed  from  the  nicely  polished 
round  table,  &  the  dessert  of  cake,  apples,  pears, 


102     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

preserves,  nuts  &  raisins  was  placed  upon  it. 
Captain  Condry  from  Newburyport  dined  there, 
a  very  pleasant  and  gentlemanly  man.  Mrs. 
Wijk  urged  us  to  remain  to  tea,  but  we  left 
them  soon  after  dinner. 

Monday.  7.  In  the  aft'  walked  around  Go- 
thenburg, a  pleasant  town,  &  much  preferable 
as  an  abiding  place  to  Stockholm,  in  my  opin- 
ion. On  returning  home  found  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wijk.  She  looked  sweetly  &  was  dressed  ele- 
gantly. They  called  to  invite  us  to  pass  the 
morrow  with  them,  at  their  country  seat.  — 
Tuesday.  8.  At  eleven  in  the  morning,  took  a 
carriage  to  Mr.  Wijk's.  A  long  &  tedious  ride, 
one  &  a  quarter  Swedish  mile  from  town.  We 
arrived  there  at  one,  found  Mr.  W[ijk]  &  his 
lady  waiting  to  receive  us.  We  took  a  walk 
round  the  grounds  before  dinner.  The  house 
built  in  a  very  pretty  style  &  the  grounds  some- 
thing like  an  English  Park.  An  English  gentle- 
man, a  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Wijk's  dined  with 
us.  He  has  a  country  seat  adjoining.  After 
dinner,  we  walked  to  this  gentleman's  grounds. 
They  are  quite  delighted  with  a  fine  lake  near 
the  house.  We  then  visited  the  factories,  which 
the  owner,  a  man  of  great  mechanical  genius,  has 
erected  upon  his  grounds.  We  saw  all  the  dif- 
ferent stages  the  flax  went  through  before  weav- 
ing &  lastly  the  weaving  itself.  We  returned 


SECOND   VISIT  TO  EUROPE          103 

home  &  took  tea  with  Mrs.  Wijk  &  then  bade 
adieu.  Found  on  our  return  home  Mr.  Apple- 
ton  had  arrived  from  Stockholm.  He  goes  to 
Copenhagen  with  us. 

Wednesday.  9.  At  two  in  the  aft'  we  left 
Gothenburg,  in  a  little  boat  for  the  steamer 
station,  which  is  three  miles  from  the  town. 
Mr.  Wijk  accompanied  us  to  the  wharf.  When 
we  arrived  at  the  steamer  pier — found  the  boat 
had  not  arrived  from  Christiana,  &  there  we 
waited  three  hours  for  it.  We  left  about  6  in 
the  evening.  The  steamer  crowded.  We  were 
obliged  to  sleep  in  the  gentleman's  cabin,  &  the 
cabin  was  entirely  filled  with  hammocks  swung 
one  above  another.  —  Thursday.  10.  Arrived  in 
Copenhagen  at  2  P.M.  Found  good  accommoda- 
tions at  the  Hotel  Royal.  Monday.  14.  Mr. 

Appleton  &  Mary  G left  us,  for  London. 

Tuesday.  15.  In  the  morning  went  over  the 
new  palace,  not  yet  entirely  completed.  It  is  a 
fine  building,  the  rooms  very  neat,  most  of  them 
carpeted.  The  carpet  English,  &  upon  the 
king's  apartments  of  the  most  ordinary  &  coars- 
est Kidderminster.  The  Queen's  were  Brussels, 
but  nothing  extraordinary.  In  one  large  room 
was  the  king's  throne  —  A  gilded  chair  covered 
with  crimson  velvet,  &  his  initials  worked  in 
gold  upon  it.  The  platform,  &  the  steps  by 
which  you  ascend  to  it,  were  also  covered  with 


104     HENRY  WADS  WORTH  LONGFELLOW 

crimson  velvet.  The  window-curtains  were  su- 
perb—  of  crimson  velvet  &  a  gold  vine  wrought 
upon  the  edge  of  them.  The  Queen's  apart- 
ments were  more  splendid  than  the  king's.  She 
had  also  a  room  similar  to  the  king's,  with  a 
throne  like  his  &  curtains  the  same.  The  dan- 
cing hall  was  very  fine  with  seven  immense  chan- 
deliers in  it.  —  The  king  and  Queen  both  had 
their  dining  halls.  There  was  a  most  splendid 
hall  for  dubbing  knights.  An  immense  room, 
with  gallery  all  around  it,  supported  by  pillars 
which  appeared  like  white  marble,  but  were  of 
some  composition.  The  ceiling  was  very  beau- 
tiful, white  with  raised  gilt  figures.  The  chapel 
was  very  fine  ;  also  the  hall  of  justice,  where 
criminals  for  high  treason,  I  think,  are  tried. 
There  is  a  throne  of  crimson  velvet  at  one  end, 
&  three  silver  lions,  with  golden  manes,  as  large 
as  life  &  in  very  fierce  attitudes  are  guarding  it. 
Thursday.  17.  In  the  morning  at  the  museum 
of  "  Northern  Antiquities."  The  collection  has 
been  made  since  20  years  &  is  the  largest  in 
Europe.  We  were  first  shown  the  knives, 
chisels,  arrows,  <fec.,  used  before  any  metal  was 
discovered  &  many  —  many  years  before  Chris- 
tianity. They  were  all  of  stone.  We  also  saw 
the  first  rude  urns  which  were  used  for  the 
burial  of  dead  bodies.  Gold,  silver  &  copper 
were  discovered  before  iron  ;  when  iron  was  dis- 


SECOND   VISIT  TO  EUROPE          105 

covered  it  was  for  a  long  time  so  valuable,  that 
we  saw  that  instruments  were  made  of  copper  & 
only  pointed  with  iron.  Thus  we  were  shown 
these  instruments  from  their  first  rude  state  till 
they  arrived  quite  at  perfection.  We  also  saw 
the  gold  rings  &  bracelets  which  the  ancients 
wore,  &  which  they  cut  off,  piece  by  piece,  to 
give  in  exchange  for  clothing  or  food  before  the 
use  of  money.  We  saw  a  beautiful  ebony  altar 
piece  with  gold  &  silver  figures  raised  upon  it. 
It  was  intended  for  a  chapel  of  one  of  the  former 
kings;  but  he  afterwards  altered  his  plan  & 
erected  a  large  church,  —  so  that  it  has  never 
been  used. 

I  fear,  my  dear  Aunt,  you  will  find  this  all 
very  stupid  &  tedious,  &  will  not  thank  me 
much  for  the  copious  extracts  from  my  poor 
little  journal.  I  flatter  myself,  however,  you 
will  take  an  interest  in  all  that  we  do  &  see,  so 
I  give  you  the  best  descriptions  in  my  power. 
Copenhagen  appears  like  a  different  place  to  us, 
from  what  it  did  when  here  before.  Henry 
would  like  to  pass  the  winter  here,  he  is  now 
so  charmed  with  it.  We  have  a  much  plea- 
santer  situation,  than  when  here  before,  &  coming 
from  Sweden  any  place  would  be  quite  de- 
lightful. Indeed  it  seems  now  quite  like  London 
—  the  cries  remind  us  of  that  city  &  it  appears 
almost  as  noisy.  How  different  from  our  first 


106     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

impression  of  Copenhagen  !  but  then  we  were 
direct  from  London  &  after  that  immense  and 
overpowering  place  everything  seems  dull  and 
lifeless.  We  shall  probably  leave  here  this  week 
Thursday,  &  shall  take  these  letters  to  Ham- 
burg with  us,  with  the  hopes  of  sending  them 
directly  to  America  from  there.  Henry  sends 
books  to  the  college  from  here,  but  it  is  so  un- 
certain when  they  go  I  do  not  like  to  leave  my 
letters.  How  lonely  you  will  be  without  Sammy 
this  winter ;  I  feel  very  glad  he  has  entered  as 
Freshman,  for  we  shall  have  him  a  year  longer 
with  us.  Give  much  love  to  all  from  us  —  Clara 
is  very  well  and  seems  very  happy.  She  enjoys 
travelling  very  much,  &  is  just  as  good  &  excel- 
lent a  girl  as  ever  —  Henry  desires  very  much 
love  to  Aunt  Lucia  —  accept  much  from  your 
ever  affectionate 

MARY. 

To  Miss  LUCIA  WADSWORTH, 
Portland,  Me. 


CHAPTER  IX 

ILLNESS   AND   DEATH   OF  MRS.   LONGFELLOW 

THIS  series  of  happy  travelling  narratives  was 
suddenly  interrupted  by  the  following  letters,  now 
first  printed,  to  the  father  of  the  young  wife. 

ROTTERDAM,  Dec.  1,  1835. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  trust  that  my  last  letter 
to  my  father  has  in  some  measure  prepared  your 
mind  for  the  melancholy  intelligence  which  this 
will  bring  to  you.  Our  beloved  Mary  is  no 
more.  She  expired  on  Sunday  morning,  Nov. 
29,  without  pain  or  suffering,  either  of  body 
or  mind,  and  with  entire  resignation  to  the 
will  of  her  heavenly  Father.  Though  her  sick- 
ness was  long,  yet  I  could  not  bring  myself  to 
think  it  dangerous  until  near  its  close.  Indeed, 
I  did  not  abandon  all  hope  of  her  recovery  till 
within  a  very  few  hours  of  her  dissolution,  and 
to  me  the  blow  was  so  sudden,  that  I  have  hardly 
yet  recovered  energy  enough  to  write  you  the 
particulars  of  this  solemn  and  mournful  event. 
When  I  think,  however,  upon  the  goodness  and 
purity  of  her  life,  and  the  holy  and  peaceful 


108     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

death  she  died,  I  feel  great  consolation  in  my 
bereavement,  and  can  say,  "  Father,  thy  will  be 
done." 

Knowing  the  delicate  state  of  Mary's  health, 
I  came  all  the  way  from  Stockholm  with  fear 
and  trembling,  and  with  the  exception  of  one 
day's  ride  from  Kiel  to  Hamburg  we  came  the 
whole  distance  by  water.  Unfortunately  our 
passage  from  Hamburg  to  Amsterdam  in  the 
Steamboat  was  rather  rough,  and  Mary  was  quite 
unwell.  On  the  night  of  our  arrival  the  circum- 
stance occurred  to  which  I  alluded  in  my  last, 
[the  premature  birth  of  a  child]  and  which  has 
had  this  fatal  termination.  ...  In  Amsterdam  we 
remained  three  weeks  ;  and  Mary  seemed  to  be 
quite  restored  and  was  anxious  to  be  gone.  To 
avoid  a  possibility  of  fatigue  we  took  three 
days  to  come  to  this  place  —  a  distance  of  only 
forty  miles  ;  and  on  our  arrival  here  Mary  was 
in  excellent  spirits  and  to  all  appearances  very 
well.  But  alas !  the  same  night  she  had  a  relapse 
which  caused  extreme  debility,  with  a  low  fever, 
and  nervous  headache.  This  was  on  the  23d 
October.  In  a  day  or  two  she  was  better,  and 
on  the  27th  worse  again.  After  this  she  seemed 
to  recover  slowly,  and  sat  up  for  the  first  time 
on  the  llth,  though  only  for  a  short  while.  This 
continued  for  a  day  or  two  longer,  till  she  felt 
well  enough  to  sit  up  for  nearly  an  hour.  And 


MRS.  LONGFELLOW'S  DEATH        109 

then  she  was  seized  with  a  violent  rheumatism, 
and  again  took  to  her  bed  from  which  she  never 
more  arose. 

During  all  this  she  was  very  patient,  and  gen- 
erally cheerful,  tho'  at  times  her  courage  fainted 
and  she  thought  that  she  should  not  recover,  — 
wishing  only  that  she  could  see  her  friends  at 
home  once  more  before  she  died.  At  such  mo- 
ments she  loved  to  Repeat  these  lines  [by  An- 
drews Norton],  which  seemed  to  soothe  her 
feelings  :  — 

"  Father  !  I  thank  thee  !  may  no  thought 

E'er  deem  thy  chastisements  severe. 
But  may  this  heart,  by  sorrow  taught, 
Calm  each  wild  wish,  each  idle  fear." 

On  Sunday,  the  22nd,  all  her  pain  had  left 
her,  and  she  said  she  had  not  felt  so  well  during 
her  sickness.  On  this  day,  too,  we  received  a 
letter  from  Margaret,  which  gave  her  great  plea- 
sure, and  renovated  her  spirits  very  much.  But 
still  from  day  to  day  she  gained  no  strength. 
In  this  situation  she  continued  during  the  whole 
week  —  perfectly  calm,  cheerful  and  without  any 
pain.  On  Friday  another  letter  came  from 
Margaret,  and  she  listened  to  it  with  greatest 
delight.  A  few  minutes  afterwards  a  letter  from 
you  and  Eliza  was  brought  in,  which  I  reserved 
for  the  next  day.  '  When  I  went  to  her  on  Sat- 
urday morning  I  found  her  countenance  much 


110     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

changed,  and  my  heart  sank  within  me.  Till 
this  moment  I  had  indulged  the  most  sanguine 
hopes ;  —  but  now  my  fears  overmastered  them. 
She  was  evidently  worse,  though  she  felt  as  well 
as  usual.  The  day  passed  without  change  ;  and 
towards  evening,  as  she  seemed  a  little  restless 
and  could  not  sleep,  I  sat  down  by  her  bedside, 
and  read  your  letter  and  Eliza's  to  her.  O,  I 
shall  never  forget  how  her  eyes  and  her  whole 
countenance  brightened,  and  with  what  a  hea- 
venly smile  she  looked  up  into  my  face  as  I  read. 
My  own  hopes  revived  again  to  see  that  look ; 
but  alas !  this  was  the  last  gleam  of  the  dying 
lamp.  Towards  ten  o'clock  she  felt  a  slight 
oppression  in  the  chest,  with  a  difficulty  of 
breathing.  I  sat  down  by  her  side  and  tried  to 
cheer  her ;  and  as  her  respiration  became  more 
difficult,  she  said  to  me,  "  Why  should  I  be 
troubled  ;  If  I  die  God  will  take  me  to  himself." 
And  from  this  moment  she  was  perfectly  calm, 
excepting  for  a  single  instant,  when  she  ex- 
claimed, "  O,  my  dear  Father ;  how  he  will 
mourn  for  me."  A  short  time  afterwards  she 
thanked  Clara  for  her  kindness,  and  clasping 
her  arms  affectionately  round  my  neck,  kissed 
me,  and  said,  "  Dear  Henry,  do  not  forget  me  !  " 
and  after  this,  "  Tell  my  dear  friends  at  home 
that  I  thought  of  them  at  the  last  hour."  I  then 
read  to  her  from  the  Church  Litany  the  prayers 


MRS.  LONGFELLOW^  DEATH        111 

for  the  sick  and  dying ;  and  as  the  nurse 
spoke  of  sending  for  Dr.  Bosworth,  the  Episco- 
pal clergyman,  Mary  said  she  should  like  to  see 
him,  and  I  accordingly  sent.  He  came  about 
one  o'clock,  but  at  this  time  Mary  became  appar- 
ently insensible  to  what  was  around  her;  and 
at  half-past  one  she  ceased  to  breathe. 

Thus  all  the  hopes  I  had  so  fondly  cherished 
of  returning  home  with  my  dear  Mary  in  happi- 
ness and  renovated  health  have  in  the  providence 
of  God  ended  in  disappointment  and  sorrow 
unspeakable.  All  that  I  have  left  to  me  in  my 
affliction  is  the  memory  of  her  goodness,  her 
gentleness,  her  affection  for  me  —  unchangeable 
in  life  and  in  death  —  and  the  hope  of  meeting 
her  again  hereafter,  where  there  shall  be  no  more 
sickness,  nor  sorrow,  nor  suffering,  nor  death. 
I  feel,  too,  that  she  must  be  infinitely,  oh,  infin- 
itely happier  now  than  when  with  us  on  earth, 
and  I  say  to  myself,  — 

"  Peace  !  peace  !  she  is  not  dead,  she  does  not  sleep ! 
She  has  awakened  from  the  dream  of  life." 

With  my  most  affectionate  remembrance  to 
Eliza  and  Margaret,  and  my  warmest  sympathies 
with  you  all,  very  truly  yours, 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW. 

On  the  2d  of  December  the  young  husband 
left  Rotterdam  for  Heidelberg.  There  he  spent 


112     HENRY  WADS  WORTH  LONGFELLOW 

the  winter,  like  Paul  Fleinming  of  "  Hyperion," 
and  buried  himself  in  "  old  dusty  books."  He 
met  many  men  who  interested  him,  Schlosser, 
Gervinus,  and  Mittermaier,  and  also  Bryant,  the 
poet,  from  his  own  country,  whom  he  saw  for 
the  first  time.  An  added  sorrow  came  to  him 
in  the  death  of  his  brother-in-law  and  dearest 
friend,  George  W.  Pierce,  "  He  the  young  and 
strong,"  as  he  afterwards  wrote  in  his  "  Foot- 
steps of  Angels ;  "  but  in  accordance  with  the 
advice  of  his  friend  Ticknor  he  absorbed  him- 
self in  intellectual  labor,  taking  the  direction  of 
a  careful  study  of  German  literature.  This  he 
traced  from  its  foundations  down  to  Jean  Paul 
Richter,  who  was  for  him,  as  for  many  other 
Americans  of  the  same  period,  its  high-water 
mark,  even  to  the  exclusion  of  Goethe.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  Longfellow's  friend,  Pro- 
fessor Felton,  translated  not  long  after,  and  very 
likely  with  Longfellow's  aid  or  counsel,  MenzeFs 
"  History  of  German  Literature,"  in  which 
Goethe  is  made  quite  a  secondary  figure. 

It  is  also  to  be  noticed  that  George  Bancroft, 
one  of  the  half  dozen  men  in  America  who  had 
studied  at  a  German  University,  wrote  about  the 
same  time  a  violent  attack  on  Goethe  in  the 
Boston  "  Christian  Examiner,"  in  which  he  pro- 
nounced him  far  inferior  to  Voltaire,  "  not  in 
genius  and  industry  only,  but  still  more  in  mo- 


MRS.  LONGFELLOW'S  DEATH        113 

rality."  He  says  of  him  farther,  "  He  imitates, 
he  reproduces,  he  does  not  create  and  he  does 
not  build  up.  .  .  .  His  chances  at  popularity 
are  diminishing.  Twaddle  will  not  pass  long 
for  wisdom.  The  active  spirit  of  movement  and 
progress  finds  in  his  works  little  that  attracts 
sympathy." l  It  is  to  be  remembered  in  the 
same  connection  that  Longfellow,  in  1837,  wrote 
to  his  friend,  George  W.  Greene,  of  "  Jean  Paul 
Richter,  the  most  magnificent  of  the  German 
prose  writers,"  2  and  it  was  chiefly  on  Richter 
that  his  prose  style  was  formed. 

In  June  he  left  Heidelberg  for  the  Tyrol  and 
Switzerland,  where  the  scene  of  "  Hyperion  " 
was  laid.  He  called  it  "  quite  a  sad  and  lonely 
journey,"  but  it  afterwards  led  to  results  both  in 
his  personal  and  literary  career.  He  sailed  for 
home  in  October  and  established  himself  in  Cam- 
bridge in  December,  1836.  The  following  letter 
to  his  wife's  sister  was  written  after  his  return. 

CAMBRIDGE,  Sunday  evening. 

MY  DEAR  ELIZA,  —  By  tomorrow's  steam- 
boat I  shall  send  you  two  trunks,  containing 
the  clothes  which  once  belonged  to  your  sister. 
What  I  have  suffered  in  getting  them  ready  to 
send  to  you,  I  cannot  describe.  It  is  not  neces- 

1  Christian  Examiner,  July,  1839,  xxvi.  363-367. 

2  Life,  L  259. 


114     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

sary,  that  I  should.  Cheerful  as  I  may  have 
seemed  to  you  at  times,  there  are  other  times, 
when  it  seems  to  me  that  my  heart  would  break. 
The  world  considers  grief  unmanly,  and  is  sus- 
picious of  that  sorrow,  which  is  expressed  by 
words  and  outward  signs.  Hence  we  strive  to 
be  gay  and  put  a  cheerful  courage  on,  when  our 
souls  are  very  sad.  But  there  are  hours,  when 
the  world  is  shut  out,  and  we  can  no  longer 
hear  the  voices,  that  cheer  and  encourage  us. 
To  me  such  hours  come  daily.  I  was  so  happy 
with  my  dear  Mary,  that  it  is  very  hard  to  be 
alone.  The  sympathies  of  friendship  are  doubt- 
less something  —  but  after  all  how  little,  how 
unsatisfying  they  are  to  one  who  has  been  so 
loved  as  I  have  been  !  This  is  a  selfish  sorrow, 
I  know:  but  neither  reason  nor  reflection  can 
still  it.  Affliction  makes  us  childish.  A  grieved 
and  wounded  heart  is  hard  to  be  persuaded. 
We  do  not  wish  to  have  our  sorrow  lessened. 
There  are  wounds,  which  are  never  entirely 
healed.  A  thousand  associations  call  up  the 
past,  with  all  its  gloom  and  shadow.  Often  a 
mere  look  or  sound  —  a  voice  —  the  odor  of  a 
flower  —  the  merest  trifle  is  enough  to  awa- 
ken within  me  deep  and  unutterable  emotions. 
Hardly  a  day  passes,  that  some  face,  or  familiar 
object,  or  some  passage  in  the  book  I  am  read- 
ing does  not  call  up  the  image  of  my  beloved 


MRS.  LONGFELLOW'S  DEATH        115 

wife  so  vividly,  that  I  pause  and  burst  into 
tears,  —  and  sometimes  cannot  rally  again  for 
hours. 

And  yet,  my  dear  Eliza,  in  a  few  days,  and 
we  shall  all  be  gone,  and  others  sorrowing  and 
rejoicing  as  we  now  do,  will  have  taken  our 
places :  and  we  shall  say,  how  childish  it  was 
for  us  to  mourn  for  things  so  transitory.  There 
may  be  some  consolation  in  this ;  but  we  are 
nevertheless  children.  Our  feelings  overcome 
us. 

Farewell.  Give  my  kind  regards  to  all,  and 
believe  me  most  truly  and  affectionately,  your 
friend, 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW.! 

i  MS.  letter. 


CHAPTER  X 

CRAIGIE    HOUSE 

IN  entering  on  the  duties  of  his  Harvard  pro- 
fessorship (December,  1836)  Longfellow  took 
rooms  at  the  Craigie  House  in  Cambridge.  This 
house,  so  long  his  residence,  has  been  claimed  as 
having  more  historic  interest  than  any  house  in 
New  England,  both  from  the  fact  of  his  owner- 
ship and  of  its  having  been  the  headquarters  of 
General  Washington  during  the  siege  of  Boston. 
It  has  even  been  called  from  these  two  circum- 
stances the  best  known  residence  in  the  United 
States,  with  the  exception  of  Mt.  Vernon,  with 
which  it  has  some  analogy  both  in  position  and 
in  aspect.  It  overlooks  the  Charles  River  as 
the  other  overlooks  the  Potomac,  though  the  lat- 
ter view  is  of  course  far  more  imposing,  and  the 
Craigie  House  wants  the  picturesque  semicircle 
of  outbuildings  so  characteristic  of  Mt.  Vernon, 
while  it  is  far  finer  in  respect  to  rooms,  especially 
in  the  upper  stories.  It  was  built,  in  all  probabil- 
ity, in  1759  by  Colonel  John  Vassall,  whose  fam- 
ily owned  the  still  older  house  across  the  way 
now  called  the  Batchelder  House ;  and  there  is  a 


CRAIGIE  HOUSE  117 

tradition  of  a  subterranean  passage  between  the 
two  houses,  although  this  has  hitherto  been 
sought  in  vain.  Both  these  dwellings  belonged  to 
a  series  of  large  houses  on  Brattle  Street,  called 
Tory  Row,  whose  proprietors  were  almost  all 
kinsfolk,  owned  West  India  estates  and  slaves, 
entertained  company  in  great  affluence,  accord- 
ing to  the  descriptions  of  the  Baroness  Riedesel, 
and  were  almost  all  forced  to  leave  the  country 
at  the  approach  of  the  Revolution.  Tradition 
recalls  a  Twelfth  Night  party  given  by  Mrs. 
Washington  in  1776,  she  having  come  to  visit 
her  husband  during  his  residence  in  Cambridge. 
"  She  arrived  in  great  ceremony,  with  a  coach 
and  four  black  horses,  with  postilions  and  ser- 
vants in  scarlet  livery.  During  her  visit  she 
and  her  husband  celebrated  their  wedding  anni- 
versary, though  the  General  had  to  be  much 
persuaded  by  his  aides." 1  The  southeastern 
room,  afterwards  Longfellow's  study,  had  been 
Washington's  office,  and  the  chamber  above  it 
his  private  room,  this  being  Longfellow's  original 
study.  The  house  was  bought  about  1792,  the 
dates  being  a  little  uncertain,  by  Andrew  Craigie, 
apothecary-general  of  the  northern  department 
of  the  Revolutionary  army,  who  made  additions 
to  the  house,  which  was  described  as  a  princely 

1  Miss  Alice  M.  Longfellow  in    The    Cambridge    Tribune, 
April  21,  1900,  page  4. 


118    HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

establishment.1  Mr.  Craigie  sometimes  enter- 
tained a  hundred  guests  at  the  Commencement 
festival,  and  had  among  his  other  guests  the  cel- 
ebrated Talleyrand  and  the  Duke  of  Kent,  Queen 
Victoria's  father,  then  Prince  Edward.  Mr. 
Craigie  had  large  business  transactions,  specu- 
lated extensively  but  at  last  unsuccessfully  in 
real  estate,  and  died  in  1819.  His  wife  long 
outlived  him,  and  being  poor,  let  rooms  to  various 
inmates.  Edward  Everett  took  his  bride  there 
in  1822,  and  so  did  President  Jared  Sparks  in 
1832.  Five  years  after,  Longfellow  took  the 
rooms,  and  thus  describes  his  first  visit  to  Mrs. 
Craigie :  — 

"  The  first  time  I  was  in  Craigie  House  was 
on  a  beautiful  afternoon  in  the  year  1837.  I 
came  to  see  Mr.  McLane,  a  law-student,  who 
occupied  the  southeastern  chamber.  The  win- 
dow-blinds were  closed,  but  through  them  came 
a  pleasant  breeze,  and  I  could  see  the  waters  of 
the  Charles  gleaming  in  the  meadows.  McLane 
left  Cambridge  in  August,  and  I  took  possession 
of  his  room,  making  use  of  it  as  a  library  or 
study,  and  having  the  adjoining  chamber  for  my 
bedroom.  At  first  Mrs.  Craigie  declined  to  let 
me  have  rooms.  I  remember  how  she  looked  as 

1  A  history  of  this  house  from  original  documents  was  pre- 
pared by  Samuel  S.  Green,  of  Worcester,  and  was  read  by  him 
before  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  April  25,  1900,  and 
published  in  their  documents. 


CRAIGIE  HOUSE  119 

she  stood,  in  her  white  turban,  with  her  hands 
crossed  behind  her,  snapping  her  gray  eyes. 
She  had  resolved,  she  said,  to  take  no  more 
students  into  the  house.  But  her  manner 
changed  when  I  told  her  who  I  was.  She  said 
that  she  had  read  '  Outre-Mer,'  of  which  one 
number  was  lying  on  her  side-board.  She  then 
took  me  all  over  the  house  and  showed  me  every 
room  in  it,  saying,  as  we  went  into  each,  that  I 
could  not  have  that  one.  She  finally  consented 
to  my  taking  the  rooms  mentioned  above,  on 
condition  that  the  door  leading  into  the  back 
entry  should  be  locked  on  the  outside.  Young 
Habersham,  of  Savannah,  a  friend  of  Mrs.  Crai- 
gie's,  occupied  at  that  time  the  other  front  cham- 
ber. He  was  a  skilful  performer  on  the  flute. 
Like  other  piping  birds,  he  took  wing  for  the 
rice-fields  of  the  South  when  the  cold  weather 
came,  and  I  remained  alone  with  the  widow  in 
her  castle.  The  back  part  of  the  house  was 
occupied,  however,  by  her  farmer.  His  wife  sup- 
plied my  meals  and  took  care  of  my  rooms. 
She  was  a  giantess,  and  very  pious  in  words ; 
and  when  she  brought  in  my  breakfast  frequently 
stopped  to  exhort  me.  The  exorbitant  rate  at 
which  she  charged  my  board  was  rather  at 
variance  with  her  preaching.  Her  name  was 
Miriam  ;  and  Felton  called  her  '  Miriam,  the  pro- 
fitess.'  Her  husband  was  a  meek  little  man. 


120    HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

"  The  winter  was  a  rather  solitary  one,  and 
the  house  very  still.  I  used  to  hear  Mrs.  Craigie 
go  down  to  breakfast  at  nine  or  ten  in  the  morn- 
ing and  go  up  to  bed  at  eleven  at  night.  During 
the  day  she  seldom  left  the  parlor,  where  she 
sat  reading  the  newspapers  and  the  magazines, 
—  occasionally  a  volume  of  Voltaire.  She  read 
also  the  English  Annuals,  of  which  she  had  a 
large  collection.  Occasionally,  the  sound  of 
voices  announced  a  visitor ;  and  she  sometimes 
enlivened  the  long  evenings  with  a  half -forgotten 
tune  upon  an  old  piano-forte. 

"  During  the  following  summer  the  fine  old 
elms  in  front  of  the  house  were  attacked  by 
canker-worms,  which,  after  having  devoured  the 
leaves,  came  spinning  down  in  myriads.  Mrs. 
Craigie  used  to  sit  by  the  open  windows  and  let 
them  crawl  over  her  white  turban  unmolested. 
She  would  have  nothing  done  to  protect  the  trees 
from  these  worms ;  she  used  to  say,  '  Why,  sir, 
they  are  our  fellow-worms  ;  they  have  as  good  a 
right  to  live  as  we  have.'  " 

It  was  certainly  a  strange  chance  which  threw 
the  young  poet,  on  his  return  from  Europe,  into 
the  curiously  cosmopolitan  atmosphere  of  Mrs. 
Craigie's  mind.  The  sale  catalogue  of  her  books 
lies  before  me,  a  mass  of  perhaps  five  hundred 
odd  volumes  of  worthy  or  worthless  literature : 
Goethe's  "  Werther  "  beside  the  American  "  Fru- 


CRAIGIE  HOUSE  121 

gal  Housewife,"  and  Heath's  "  Book  of  Beauty  " 
beside  "  Hannah  More."  Yet  it  was  doubtless 
the  only  house  in  Cambridge  which  then  held 
complete  sets  of  Voltaire  and  Diderot,  of  Moli- 
ere,  Crebillon,  and  Florian,  Madame  de  Sevigne 
and  Madame  de  Stael.  Some  of  the  books 
thus  sold  form  a  part  to  this  day  of  the  Long- 
fellow library  at  Craigie  House ;  but  there  is  no 
reference  to  the  poet  in  the  original  catalogue, 
except  that  it  includes  "  Outre-Mer,"  No.  1, 
doubtless  the  same  copy  which  he  saw  lying 
on  the  sideboard. 

Mr.  J.  E.  Worcester,  the  lexicographer,  shared 
the  house  with  Longfellow,  as  did  for  a  time 
Miss  Sally  Lowell,  an  aunt  of  the  poet.  Mr. 
Worcester  bought  it  for  himself,  and  ultimately 
sold  it  to  Mr.  Nathan  Appleton,  father  of  the 
second  Mrs.  Longfellow,  to  whom  he  presented 
it.  Part  of  the  ten  magnificent  elms  of  which 
Longfellow  wrote  in  1839  have  disappeared. 
The  ground  has  been  improved  by  the  low-fenced 
terrace  which  he  added,  and  the  grounds  oppo- 
site, given  by  the  poet's  children  to  the  Long- 
fellow Memorial  Association,  have  been  graded 
into  a  small  public  park  descending  nearly  to 
the  river.  Within  the  house  all  remains  much 
the  same,  Longfellow's  library  never  having  been 
scattered,  although  his  manuscripts  and  proof- 
sheets,  which  he  preserved  and  caused  to  be 


122    HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

bound  in  their  successive  stages  in  the  most 
orderly  manner,  have  now  been  transferred  to  a 
fire-proof  building  for  greater  security.  The 
"  old  clock  on  the  stairs,"  which  he  himself  placed 
there,  still  ticks  and  strikes  the  hour ;  and  one 
can  see  cracks  in  the  stairway  through  which  the 
mysterious  letters  dropped  morning  after  morn- 
ing, as  told  in  the  story  of  "  Esther  Wynne's 
Love  Letters,"  by  the  accomplished  author 
known  as  Saxe  Holm.  The  actual  letters  were 
more  commonplace,  but  they  were  apparently 
written  by  a  schoolgirl  under  Mr.  Craigie's 
care ;  and  there  was  a  tradition,  not  very  well 
authenticated,  that  Longfellow  himself  had 
planned  to  make  them  the  subject  of  a  poem 
before  Saxe  Holm  or  Helen  Hunt  —  as  the  case 
may  be  —  had  anticipated  him  in  prose. 

Such  was  the  house  where  Longfellow  resided 
for  the  rest  of  his  life ;  seven  years  of  which 
passed  before  his  second  wedded  life  began. 
The  following  letter,  taken  from  the  Harvard 
College  papers,  will  show  the  interest  he  took  in 
the  estate. 

MY  DEAR  SIB  [President  Quincy],  —  Will 
you  have  the  goodness  to  lay  before  the  Corpora- 
tion, at  their  next  meeting,  my  request  concern- 
ing the  trees,  which  I  mentioned  to  you  the  last 
time  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you ;  viz.  that 


CRAIGIE  HOUSE  123 

they  would  permit  me  to  take  from  the  College 
grounds  3  elm  trees  to  be  placed  in  front  of  the 
Craigie  House. 

I  am  endeavoring  to  replace,  as  well  as  pos- 
sible, the  old  elms,  and  find  it  difficult  to  obtain 
many  of  the  size  I  desire.  Some  parts  of  the 
College  ground  are  so  thickly  planted  that  a 
tree  may  be  removed,  here  &  there,  without 
at  all  impairing  the  beauty  of  the  grounds.  I 
therefore  request  permission  to  remove  any  3 
trees  that  the  College  Steward  shall  say  may  be 
taken  without  detriment  to  the  College  property. 

Yrs  very  truly, 
HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW. 

CAMBRIDGE,  Dec.  29  [1843]  .* 

1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  2d  ser.  xii.  26. 


CHAPTER  XI 
HYPERION  AND  THE  REACTION  FROM  IT 

"  OUTRE-MER  "  had  been  published  some  time 
before,  with  moderate  success,  but  "  Hyperion  " 
was  destined  to  attract  far  more  attention.  It 
is  first  mentioned  in  his  journal  on  September 
13,  1838,  though  in  a  way  which  shows  that  it 
had  been  for  some  time  in  preparation,  and  its 
gradual  development  is  traceable  through  the 
same  channel.  One  entire  book,  for  instance, 
was  written  and  suppressed,  namely,  "  St.  Glair's 
Day  Book,"  the  hero  having  first  been  christened 
Hyperion,  then  St.  Clair,  and  then  Paul  Flem- 
ming.  Its  author  wrote  of  it,  "  I  called  it  c  Hy- 
perion,' because  it  moves  on  high  among  clouds 
and  stars,  and  expresses  the  various  aspirations 
of  the  soul  of  man.  It  is  all  modelled  on  this 
idea,  style  and  all.  It  contains  my  cherished 
thoughts  for  three  years."1 

The  cordiality  with  which  "  Hyperion  "  was  re- 
ceived was  due  partly  to  the  love  story  supposed  to 
be  implied  in  it,  and  largely  to  the  new  atmosphere 
of  German  life  and  literature  which  it  opened  to 

1  Life,  i.  353. 


HYPERION  AND  THE  REACTION     125 

Americans.  It  must  always  be  remembered  that 
the  kingdom  in  which  Germany  then  ruled  was 
not  then,  as  now,  a  kingdom  of  material  force 
and  business  enterprise,  but  as  Germans  them- 
selves claimed,  a  kingdom  of  the  air ;  and  into 
that  realm  Hyperion  gave  to  Americans  the  first 
glimpse.  The  faults  and  limitations  which  we 
now  see  in  it  were  then  passed  by,  or  visible  only 
to  such  keen  critics  as  Orestes  A.  Brownson, 
who  wrote  thus  of  it  in  "  The  Boston  Quarterly 
Review,"  then  the  ablest  of  American  periodicals 
except  "  The  Dial :  "  "  I  do  not  like  the  book. 
It  is  such  a  journal  as  a  man  who  reads  a  great 
deal  makes  from  the  scraps  in  his  table-drawer. 
Yet  it  has  not  the  sincerity  or  quiet  touches 
which  give  interest  to  the  real  journals  of  very 
common  persons.  It  is  overloaded  with  pretti- 
nesses,  many  of  which  would  tell  well  in  conver- 
sation, but  being  rather  strown  over  than  woven 
into  his  narrative,  deform  where  they  should 
adorn.  You  cannot  guess  why  the  book  was 
written,  unless  because  the  author  were  tired  of 
reading  these  morceaux  to  himself,  for  there  has 
been  no  fusion  or  fermentation  to  bring  on  the 
hour  of  utterance.  Then  to  me  the  direct  per- 
sonal relation  in  which  we  are  brought  to  the 
author  is  unpleasing.  Had  he  but  idealized  his 
tale,  or  put  on  the  veil  of  poetry  I  But  as  it  is, 
we  are  embarrassed  by  his  extreme  communica- 


126     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

tiveness,  and  wonder  that  a  man,  who  seems  in 
other  respects  to  have  a  mind  of  delicate  texture, 
could  write  a  letter  about  his  private  life  to  a 
public  on  which  he  had  as  yet  established  no 
claim.  .  .  .  Indeed  this  book  will  not  add  to  the 
reputation  of  its  author,  which  stood  so  fair 
before  its  publication." l  This  is  the  criticism  of 
which  Longfellow  placidly  wrote,  "  I  understand 
there  is  a  spicy  article  against  me  in  the '  Boston 
Quarterly.'  I  shall  get  it  as  soon  as  I  can  ;  for, 
strange  as  you  may  think  it,  these  things  give 
me  no  pain."  2 

Mr.  Howells,  in  one  of  the  most  ardent  eulo- 
gies ever  written  upon  the  works  of  Longfellow, 
bases  his  admiration  largely  upon  the  claim 
"  that  his  art  never  betrays  the  crudeness  or  im- 
perfection of  essay,"  —  that  is,  of  experiment.3 
It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  this  ac- 
complished author,  looking  back  upon  "  Hype- 
rion "  more  than  thirty  years  later,  could  rein- 
dorse  this  strong  assertion.  To  others,  I  fancy, 
however  attractive  and  even  fascinating  the 
book  may  still  remain,  it  has  about  it  a  dis- 
tinctly youthful  quality  which,  while  sometimes 
characterizing  even  his  poetry,  unquestionably 
marked  his  early  prose.  A  later  and  younger 

1  Boston  Quarterly  Review,  January,  1840,  iii.  128. 

2  Life,  i.  354. 

8  North  American  Review,  civ.  537. 


HYPERION  AND  THE  REACTION     127 

critic  says  more  truly  of  it,  I  think,  "  Plainly  in 
the  style  of  Kichter,  with  all  the  mingled  gran- 
deur and  grotesqueness  of  the  German  roman- 
ticists, it  is  scarcely  now  a  favorite  with  the  adult 
reader ;  though  the  young,  obedient  to  some 
vague  embryonic  law,  still  find  in  it  for  a  sea- 
son the  pleasure,  the  thrilling  melancholy,  which 
their  grandfathers  found."  l  But  Professor  Car- 
penter, speaking  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
younger  generation,  does  not  fail  to  recognize 
that  Paul  Flemming's  complaints  cease  when  he 
reads  the  tombstone  inscription  which  becomes 
the  motto  of  the  book ;  and  I  recall  with  pleasure 
that,  being  a  youth  nurtured  on  "  Hyperion,"  I 
selected  that  passage  for  the  text  of  my  boyish 
autobiography  written  in  the  Harvard  "  Class 
Book  "  at  the  juvenile  age  of  seventeen.  Dozens 
of  youths  were  perhaps  adopting  the  motto  in 
the  same  way  at  the  same  time,  and  it  is  useless 
to  deny  to  a  book  which  thus  reached  youthful 
hearts  the  credit  of  having  influenced  the  whole 
period  of  its  popularity. 

Apart  from  the  personal  romance  which  his 
readers  attached  to  it,  the  book  had  great  value 
as  the  first  real  importation  into  our  literature 
of  the  wealth  of  German  romance  and  song. 
So  faithful  and  ample  are  its  local  descriptions 
that  a  cheap  edition  of  it  is  always  on  sale  at 

1  Carpenter's  Longfellow,  p.  55. 


128     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

Heidelberg,  and  every  English  and  American 
visitor  to  that  picturesque  old  city  seems  to  know 
the  book  by  heart.  Bearing  it  in  his  hand,  the 
traveller  still  climbs  the  rent  summit  of  the  Ge- 
sprengte  Thurm  and  looks  down  upon  the  throng 
in  the  castle  gardens ;  or  inquires  vainly  for  the 
ruined  linden-tree,  or  gives  a  sigh  to  the  fate  of 
Emma  of  Ilmenau,  and  murmurs  solemnly,  —  as 
a  fat  and  red-faced  Englishman  once  murmured 
to  me  on  that  storied  spot,  —  "  That  night  there 
fell  a  star  from  heaven ! "  There  is  no  doubt 
that  under  the  sway  of  the  simpler  style  now 
prevailing,  much  of  the  rhetoric  of  "  Hyperion  " 
seems  turgid,  some  of  its  learning  obtrusive,  and 
a  good  deal  of  its  emotion  forced  ;  but  it  was 
nevertheless  an  epoch-making  book  for  a  genera- 
tion of  youths  and  maidens,  and  it  still  retains 
its  charm.  The  curious  fact,  however,  remains  — 
a  fact  not  hitherto  noticed,  I  think,  by  biogra- 
phers or  critics  —  that  at  the  very  time  when 
the  author  was  at  work  on  "  Hyperion,"  there 
was  a  constant  reaction  in  his  mind  that  was 
carrying  him  in  the  direction  of  more  strictly 
American  subjects,  handled  under  a  simpler 
treatment.  He  wrote  on  September  13,  1838, 
"  Looked  over  my  notes  and  papers  for  '  Hype- 
rion.' Long  for  leisure  to  begin  once  more."  It 
is  impossible  to  say  how  long  a  preparation  this 
implies ;  it  may  have  been  months  or  years.  Yet 


HYPERION  AND  THE  REACTION     129 

the  following  letter  to  a  young  girl,  his  wife's 
youngest  sister,  shows  how,  within  less  than  a 
year  previous,  his  observation  had  been  again 
turned  towards  the  American  Indians  as  a 
theme. 

CAMBRIDGE,  October  29,  1837. 

MY  DEAR  MARGARET,  —  I  was  very  much 
delighted  with  your  present  of  the  slippers. 
They  are  too  pretty  to  be  trodden  under  foot ; 
yet  such  is  their  destiny,  and  shall  be  accom- 
plished, as  soon  as  may  be.  The  colors  look 
beautifully  upon  the  drab  ground ;  much  more 
so  than  on  the  black.  Don't  you  think  so  ?  I 
should  have  answered  your  note,  and  sent  you 
my  thanks,  by  Alexander  on  Wednesday  last ; 
but  when  I  last  saw  him,  I  had  not  received  the 
package.  Therefore  you  must  not  imagine  from 
my  delay,  that  I  do  not  sufficiently  appreciate  the 
gift.  .  .  . 

There  is  nothing  very  new  in  Boston,  which 
after  all  is  a  gossiping  kind  of  Little  Peddling- 
ton,  if  you  know  what  that  is  ;  if  you  don't,  you 
must  read  the  story.  People  take  too  much  cog- 
nizance of  their  neighbors ;  interest  themselves 
too  much  in  what  no  way  concerns  them.  How- 
ever, it  is  no  great  matter. 

There  are  Indians  here  :  savage  fellows ;  — 
one  Black-Hawk  and  his  friends,  with  naked 
shoulders  and  red  blankets  wrapped  about  their 


130     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

bodies :  —  the  rest  all  grease  and  Spanish  brown 
and  vermillion.  One  carries  a  great  war-club, 
and  wears  horns  on  his  head ;  another  had  his 
face  painted  like  a  grid-iron,  all  in  bands  :  — 
another  is  all  red,  like  a  lobster ;  and  another 
black  and  blue,  in  great  daubs  of  paint  laid 
on  not  sparingly.  Queer  fellows !  —  One  great 
champion  of  the  Fox  nation  had  a  short  pipe  in 
his  mouth,  smoking  with  great  self-complacency 
as  he  marched  out  of  the  City  Hall :  another 
was  smoking  a  cigar!  Withal,  they  looked 

very  formidable.     Hard  customers 

Very  truly  yours 

H.  W.  L.1 

Note,  again,  how  this  tendency  to  home  themes 
asserts  itself  explicitly  in  Longfellow's  notice  of 
Hawthorne's  "  Twice-Told  Tales  "  at  about  the 
same  time  in  "  The  North  American  Review," 
(July,  1837) :  — 

"  One  of  the  most  prominent  characteristics 
of  these  tales  is,  that  they  are  national  in  their 
character.  The  author  has  wisely  chosen  his 
themes  among  the  traditions  of  New  England ; 
the  dusty  legends  of  'the  good  Old  Colony 
times,  when  we  lived  under  a  king.'  This  is 
the  right  material  for  story.  It  seems  as  nat- 
ural to  make  tales  out  of  old  tumble-down 
1  MS. 


HYPERION  AND   THE  REACTION     131 

traditions,  as  canes  and  snuff-boxes  out  of  old 
steeples,  or  trees  planted  by  great  men.  The 
puritanical  times  begin  to  look  romantic  in  the 
distance.  Who  would  not  like  to  have  strolled 
through  the  city  of  Agamenticus,  where  a  mar- 
ket was  held  every  week,  on  Wednesday,  and 
there  were  two  annual  fairs  at  St.  James's  and 
St.  Paul's  ?  Who  would  not  like  to  have  been 
present  at  the  court  of  the  Worshipful  Thomas 
Gorges,  in  those  palmy  days  of  the  law,  when 
Tom  Heard  was  fined  five  shillings  for  being 
drunk,  and  John  Payne  the  same,  '  for  swearing 
one  oath '  ?  Who  would  not  like  to  have  seen 
the  time,  when  Thomas  Taylor  was  presented  to 
the  grand  jury  4  for  abusing  Captain  Raynes, 
being  in  authority,  by  thee-ing  and  thou-ing 
him ; '  and  John  Wardell  likewise,  for  denying 
Cambridge  College  to  be  an  ordinance  of  God  ; 
and  when  some  were  fined  for  winking  at  comely 
damsels  in  church;  and  others  for  being  com- 
mon-sleepers there  on  the  Lord's  day  ?  Truly, 
many  quaint  and*  quiet  customs,  many  comic 
scenes  and  strange  adventures,  many  wild  and 
wondrous  things,  fit  for  humorous  tale,  and 
soft,  pathetic  story,  lie  all  about  us  here  in  New 
England.  There  is  no  tradition  of  the  Rhine 
nor  of  the  Black  Forest,  which  can  compare  in 
beauty  with  that  of  the  Phantom  Ship.  The 
Flying  Dutchman  of  the  Cape,  and  the  Klabot- 


132     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

ermann  of  the  Baltic,  are  nowise  superior.  The 
story  of  Peter  Rugg,  the  man  who  could  not 
find  Boston,  is  as  good  as  that  told  by  Gervase 
of  Tilbury,  of  a  man  who  gave  himself  to  the 
devils  by  an  unfortunate  imprecation,  and  was 
used  by  them  as  a  wheelbarrow ;  and  the  Great 
Carbuncle  of  the  White  Mountains  shines  with 
no  less  splendor,  than  that  which  illuminated  the 
subterranean  palace  in  Rome,  as  related  by 
William  of  Malmesbury.  Truly,  from  such  a 
Fortunatus's  pocket  and  wishing-cap,  a  tale- 
bearer may  furnish  forth  a  sufficiency  of  4  peryl- 
lous  adventures  right  espouventables,  bryfefly 
compyled  and  pyteous  for  to  here.' ': 

We  must  always  remember  that  Longfellow 
came  forward  at  a  time  when  cultivated  Ameri- 
cans were  wasting  a  great  deal  of  superfluous 
sympathy  on  themselves.  It  was  the  general  im- 
pression that  the  soil  was  barren,  that  the  past 
offered  no  material  and  they  must  be  European 
or  die.  Yet  Longfellow's  few  predecessors  had 
already  made  themselves  heard  by  disregarding 
this  tradition  and  taking  what  they  found  on 
the  spot.  Charles  Brockden  Brown,  although 
his  style  was  exotic  and  Godwinish,  yet  found 
his  themes  among  American  Indians  and  in  the 
scenes  of  the  yellow  fever  in  Philadelphia.  It 
was  not  Irving  who  invested  the  Hudson  with 
romance,  but  the  Hudson  that  inspired  Irving. 


HYPERION  AND  THE  REACTION     133 

When  in  1786,  Mrs.  Josiah  Quincy,  then  a  young 
girl,  sailed  upon  that  river  in  a  sloop,  she  wrote, 
"  Our  captain  had  a  legend  for  every  scene, 
either  supernatural  or  traditional  or  of  actual 
occurrence  during  the  war,  and  not  a  mountain 
reared  its  head  unconnected  with  some  marvel- 
lous story."  Irving  was  then  but  three  years 
old,  yet  Ichabod  Crane  and  Rip  Van  Winkle  or 
their  prototypes  were  already  on  the  spot  wait- 
ing for  biographers  ;  and  it  was  much  the  same 
with  Cooper,  who  was  not  born  until  three  years 
later.  What  was  needed  was  self-confidence  and 
a  strong  literary  desire  to  take  the  materials  at 
hand.  Irving,  Cooper,  Dana,  had  already  done 
this ;  but  Longfellow  followed  with  more  va- 
ried gifts,  more  thorough  training ;  the  "  Dial " 
writers  followed  in  their  turn,  and  a  distinctive 
American  literature  was  born,  this  quality  reach- 
ing a  climax  in  Thoreau,  who  frankly  wrote,  "  I 
have  travelled  a  great  deal  —  in  Concord." 

And  while  thus  Longfellow  found  his  desire 
for  a  national  literature  strengthened  at  every 
point  by  the  example  of  his  classmate  Hawthorne, 
so  he  may  have  learned  much,  though  not  im- 
mediately, through  the  warning  unconsciously 
given  by  Bryant,  against  the  perils  of  undue 
moralizing.  Bryant's  early  poem,  "  To  a  Water- 
Fowl,"  was  as  profound  in  feeling  and  as  perfect 
in  structure  as  anything  of  Longfellow's,  up  to 


134     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

the  last  verse,  which  some  profane  critic  com- 
pared to  a  tin  kettle  of  moralizing,  tied  to  the  legs 
of  the  flying  bird.  Whittier's  poems  had  almost 
always  some  such  appendage,  and  he  used  to 
regret  in  later  life  that  he  had  not  earlier  been 
contented  to  leave  his  moral  for  the  reader  to 
draw,  or  in  other  words,  to  lop  off  habitually 
the  last  verse  of  each  poem.  Apart  from  this 
there  was  a  marked  superiority,  even  on  the 
didactic  side,  in  Longfellow's  moralizing  as 
compared  with  Bryant's.  There  is  no  light  or 
joy  in  the  "  Thanatopsis ;  "  but  Longfellow,  like 
Whittier,  was  always  hopeful.  It  was  not  alone 
that  he  preached,  as  an  eminent  British  critic 
once  said  to  me,  "  a  safe  piety,"  but  his  reli- 
gious impulse  was  serene  and  even  joyous,  and 
this  under  the  pressure  of  the  deepest  personal 
sorrows. 

It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  Longfellow  wrote 
in  this  same  number  of  "  The  North  American 
Review  "  (July,  1837)  another  paper  which  was 
prophetic  with  regard  to  prose  style,  as  was  the 
Hawthorne  essay  in  respect  to  thought.  It  was 
a  review  of  Tegner's  "  Frithiof's  Saga  "  which 
showed  a  power  of  description,  brought  to  bear 
on  Swedish  life  and  scenery,  which  he  really 
never  quite  attained  in  "  Hyperion,"  because  it 
was  there  sometimes  vitiated  by  a  slightly  false 
note.  A  portion  of  it  was  used  afterwards  as  a 


HYPERION  AND  THE  REACTION     135 

preface  to  his  second  volume  of  poems  ("Bal- 
lads and  Other  Poems  "),  a  preface  regarded  by 
some  good  critics  as  Longfellow's  best  piece  of 
prose  work.  It  was,  at  any  rate,  impossible 
not  to  recognize  a  fresh  and  vigorous  quality 
in  a  descriptive  passage  opening  thus;  and  I 
can  myself  testify  that  it  stamped  itself  on  the 
memories  of  young  readers  almost  as  vividly 
as  the  ballads  which  followed  :  — 

"  There  is  something  patriarchal  still  linger- 
ing about  rural  life  in  Sweden,  which  renders 
it  a  fit  theme  for  song.  Almost  primeval  sim- 
plicity reigns  over  that  northern  land,  —  almost 
primeval  solitude  and  stillness.  You  pass  out 
from  the  gate  of  the  city,  and,  as  if  by  magic, 
the  scene  changes  to  a  wild,  woodland  landscape. 
Around  you  are  forests  of  fir.  Overhead  hang 
the  long,  fan-like  branches,  trailing  with  moss, 
and  heavy  with  red  and  blue  cones.  Under 
foot  is  a  carpet  of  yellow  leaves  ;  and  the  air 
is  warm  and  balmy.  On  a  wooden  bridge  you 
cross  a  little  silver  stream ;  and  anon  come 
forth  into  a  pleasant  and  sunny  land  of  farms. 
Wooden  fences  divide  the  adjoining  fields. 
Across  the  road  are  gates,  which  are  opened 
by  troops  of  children.  The  peasants  take  off 
their  hats  as  you  pass;  you  sneeze,  and  they 
cry,  4  God  bless  you.'  The  houses  in  the  vil- 
lages and  smaller  towns  are  all  built  of  hewn 


136     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

timber,  and  for  the  most  part  painted  red.  The 
floors  of  the  taverns  are  strewn  with  the  fra- 
grant tips  of  fir  boughs.  In  many  villages 
there  are  no  taverns,  and  the  peasants  take 
turns  in  receiving  travellers.  The  thrifty 
housewife  shows  you  into  the  best  chamber,  the 
walls  of  which  are  hung  round  with  rude  pic- 
tures from  the  Bible ;  and  brings  you  her  heavy 
silver  spoons,  —  an  heirloom,  —  to  dip  the  cur- 
dled milk  from  the  pan.  You  have  oaten  cakes 
baked  some  months  before ;  or  bread  with  anise- 
seed  and  coriander  in  it,  or  perhaps  a  little  pine 
bark." 


CHAPTER  XII 
VOICES  OF  THE   NIGHT 

THEEE  was  never  any  want  of  promptness 
or  of  industry  about  Longfellow,  though  his  time 
was  apt  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  friends  or  stran- 
gers. "  Hyperion  "  appeared  in  the  summer  of 
1839,  and  on  September  12,  1839,  he  writes  the 
title  of  his  volume,  "  Voices  of  the  Night ; "  five 
days  later  he  writes,  still  referring  to  it :  — 

"  First,  I  shall  publish  a  collection  of  poems. 
Then,  —  History  of  English  Poetry. 

"  Studies  in  the  Manner  of  Claude  Lorraine ; 
a  series  of  Sketches. 

"  Count  Cagliostro ;  a  novel. 

"  The  Saga  of  Hakon  Jarl ;  a  poem." 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  neither  of  these  four 
projects,  except  it  be  the  second,  seems  to  imply 
that  national  character  of  which  he  dreamed 
when  the  paper  in  "  The  North  American  Re- 
view "  was  written.  It  is  also  to  be  noticed  that, 
as  often  happens  with  early  plans  of  authors, 
none  of  these  works  ever  appeared,  and  perhaps 
not  even  the  beginning  was  made.  The  title  of 
"  The  Saga  "  shows  that  his  mind  was  still  en- 


138     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

gaged  with  Norse  subjects.  Two  months  after 
he  writes,  "  Meditating  what  I  shall  write  next. 
Shall  it  be  two  volumes  more  of  *  Hyperion  ; '  or 
a  drama  of  Cotton  Mather?"  Here  we  come 
again  upon  American  ground,  yet  he  soon  quits 
it.  He  adds  after  an  interruption,  "  Cotton 
Mather  ?  or  a  drama  on  the  old  poetic  legend  of 
Der  Armer  Heinrich  ?  The  tale  is  exquisite.  I 
have  a  heroine  as  sweet  as  Imogen,  could  I  but 
paint  her  so.  I  think  I  must  try  this."  Here 
we  have  indicated  the  theme  of  the  "  Golden 
Legend."  Meantime  he  was  having  constant 
impulses  to  write  special  poems,  which  he  often 
mentioned  as  Psalms.  One  of  these  was  the 
"  Midnight  Mass  for  the  Dying  Year,"  which  he 
first  called  an  "  Autumnal  Chant."  Soon  after 
he  says,  "  Wrote  a  new  Psalm  of  Life.  It  is 
4  The  Village  Blacksmith.'  "  It  is  to  be  noticed 
that  the  "  Prelude,"  probably  written  but  a  short 
time  before  the  publication  of  "Voices  of  the 
Night,"  includes  those  allusions  which  called 
forth  the  criticism  of  Margaret  Fuller  to  the 
"  Pentecost "  and  the  "  bishop's  caps."  Yet  af- 
ter all,  the  American  Jews  still  observe  Whit- 
sunday under  the  name  of  Pentecost,  and  the 
flower  mentioned  may  be  the  Mitella  diphylla, 
a  strictly  North  American  species,  though  with- 
out any  distinctly  "  golden  ring."  It  has  a  faint 
pink  suffusion,  while  the  presence  of  a  more 


VOICES  OF  THE  NIGHT  139 

marked  golden  ring  in  a  similar  and  commoner 
plant,  the  Tiarella  Pennsylvanica,  leads  one  to  a 
little  uncertainty  as  to  which  flower  was  meant, 
a  kind  of  doubt  which  would  never  accompany 
a  floral  description  by  Tennyson. 

It  is  interesting  to  put  beside  this  inspirational 
aspect  of  poetry  the  fact  that  the  poet  at  one 
time  planned  a  newspaper  with  his  friends  Fel- 
ton  and  Cleveland,  involving  such  a  perfectly 
practical  and  business-like  communication  as  this, 
with  his  publisher,  Samuel  Colman,  which  is  as 
follows : l  — 

CAMBRIDGE,  July  6, 1839. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  In  compliance  with  your 
wishes  I  have  ordered  2200  copies  of  Hyperion 
to  be  printed.  I  do  it  with  the  understanding, 
that  you  will  give  your  notes  for  $ 250  each,  in- 
stead of  the  sums  mentioned  in  the  agreement : 
and  that  I  shall  be  allowed  50  copies  instead  of 
25  for  distribution.  This  will  leave  you  150, 
which  strikes  me  as  a  very  large  number. 

The  first  Vol.  (  212  pp.  )  will  be  done  to-day : 
and  the  whole  in  a  fortnight,  I  hope.  It  is  very 
handsome;  and  those  who  praise  you  for  pub- 
lishing handsome  books,  will  have  some  reason 
for  saying  so. 

Will  you  have  the  books,  or  any  part  of  them 

1  From  the  Chamberlain  Collection  of  Autographs,  Boston 
Public  Library. 


140     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

done  up  here?  —  and  in  the  English  style,  un- 
cut ?  —  Those  for  the  Boston  market  I  should 
think  you  would. 

With  best  regards  to  Mellen  and  Cutler, 
Very  truly  yours  in  haste 

LONGFELLOW. 

P.  S.  By  the  way ;  I  was  shocked  yesterday  to 
see  in  the  New  York  Review  that  Undine  was 
coming  out  in  your  Library  of  Eomance.     This 
is  one  of  the  tales  of  the  Wonderhorn.     Have 
you  forgotten  ?     I  intend  to  come  to  New  York, 
as  soon  as  I  get  through  with  printing  Hyperion  ; 
and  we  will  bring  this  design  to  an  arrangement, 
and  one  more  beside. 
Addressed  to  SAMUEL  COLMAN,  ESQ. 
8  As  tor  House, 

New  York. 

That  was  at  a  time  when  it  was  quite  needful 
that  American  authors  should  be  business-like, 
since  American  publishers  sometimes  were  not. 
The  very  man  to  whom  this  letter  was  addressed 
became  bankrupt  six  months  later ;  half  the  edi- 
tion of  "  Hyperion "  (1200  copies)  was  seized 
by  creditors  and  was  locked  up,  so  that  the  book 
was  out  of  the  market  for  four  months.  "  No 
matter,"  the  young  author  writes  in  his  diary, 
"  I  had  the  glorious  satisfaction  of  writing  it." 
Meanwhile  the  "  Knickerbocker  "  had  not  paid 
its  contributors  for  three  years,  and  the  success 


VOICES  OF  THE  NIGHT  141 

of  "  Voices  of  the  Night "  was  regarded  as  sig- 
nal, because  the  publisher  had  sold  850  copies 
in  three  weeks. 

The  popularity  of  the  "  Voices  of  the  Night," 
though  not  universal,  was  very  great.  Haw- 
thorne wrote  to  him  of  these  poems,  "Nothing 
equal  to  some  of  them  was  ever  written  in  this 
world,  —  this  western  world,  I  mean ;  and  it 
would  not  hurt  my  conscience  much  to  include 
the  other  hemisphere."1  Halleck  also  said  of 
the  "  Skeleton  in  Armor  "  that  there  was  "  no- 
thing like  it  in  the  language,"  and  Poe  wrote  to 
Longfellow,  May  3,  1841,  "I  cannot  refrain 
from  availing  myself  of  this,  the  only  opportu- 
nity I  may  ever  have,  to  assure  the  author  of 
the  '  Hymn  to  the  Night,'  of  the  '  Beleaguered 
City,'  and  of  the  '  Skeleton  in  Armor '  of  the 
fervent  admiration  with  which  his  genius  has 
inspired  me." 

In  most  of  the  criticisms  of  Longfellow's  ear- 
lier poetry,  including  in  this  grouping  even  the 
"  Psalm  of  Life,"  we  lose  sight  of  that  fine  re- 
mark of  Sara  Coleridge,  daughter  of  the  poet, 
who  said  to  Aubrey  de  Vere,  "  However  inferior 
the  bulk  of  a  young  man's  poetry  may  be  to  that 
of  the  poet  when  mature,  it  generally  possesses 
some  passages  with  a  special  freshness  of  their 
own  and  an  inexplicable  charm  to  be  found  in 
1  Life,  i.  349. 


142     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

them  alone."  Professor  Wendell's  criticisms  on 
Longfellow,  in  many  respects  admirable,  do  not 
seem  to  me  quite  to  recognize  this  truth,  nor 
yet  the  companion  fact  that  while  Poe  took  cap- 
tive the  cultivated  but  morbid  taste  of  the  French 
public,  it  was  Longfellow  who  called  forth  more 
translators  in  all  nations  than  all  other  Ameri- 
cans put  together.  If,  as  Professor  Wendell 
thinks,  the  foundation  of  Longfellow's  fame  was 
the  fact  that  he  introduced  our  innocent  Ameri- 
can public  to  "  the  splendors  of  European  civili- 
zation," 1  how  is  it  that  his  poems  won  and  held 
such  a  popularity  among  those  who  already  had 
these  splendors  at  their  door  ?  It  is  also  to  be 
remembered  that  he  was,  if  this  were  all,  in  some 
degree  preceded  by  Bryant,  who  had  opened  the 
doors  of  Spanish  romance  to  young  Americans 
even  before  Longfellow  led  them  to  Germany  and 
Italy. 

Yet  a  common  ground  of  criticism  on  Long- 
fellow's early  poems  lay  in  the  very  simplicity 
which  made  them,  then  and  ever  since,  so  near 
to  the  popular  heart.  Digby,  in  one  of  his  agree- 
able books,  compares  them  in  this  respect  to 
the  paintings  of  Cuyp  in  these  words  :  "  The 
objects  of  Cuyp,  for  instance,  are  few  in  num- 
ber and  commonplace  in  their  character  —  a  bit 
of  land  and  water,  a  few  cattle  and  figures  in 

1  Literary  History  of  America,  p.  384. 


VOICES  OF  THE  NIGHT  143 

no  way  remarkable.  His  power,  says  a  critic, 
reminds  me  of  some  of  the  short  poems  of  Long- 
fellow, where  things  in  themselves  most  prosaic 
are  flooded  with  a  kind  of  poetic  light  from  the 
inner  soul."  1  It  is  quite  certain  that  one  may  go 
farther  in  looking  back  upon  the  development 
of  our  literature  and  can  claim  that  this  simpli- 
city was  the  precise  contribution  needed  at  that 
early  and  formative  period.  Literature  in  a 
new  country  naturally  tends  to  the  florid,  and 
one  needs  only  to  turn  to  the  novels  of  Charles 
Brockden  Brown,  or  even  Bancroft's  "  History 
of  the  United  States,"  to  see  how  eminently  this 
was  the  case  in  America.  Whatever  the  genius 
of  Poe,  for  instance,  we  can  now  see  that  he  re- 
presented, in  this  respect,  a  dangerous  tendency, 
and  Poe's  followers  and  admirers  exemplified  it 
in  its  most  perilous  form.  Take,  for  instance, 
such  an  example  as  that  of  Dr.  Thomas  Holley 
Chivers  of  Georgia,  author  of  "  Eonchs  of 
Euby,"  a  man  of  whom  Bayard  -Taylor  wrote  in 
1871,  speaking  of  that  period  thirty  years  earlier, 
"  that  something  wonderful  would  come  out  of 
Chivers."  2  It  is  certain  that  things  wonderful 
came  out  of  him  at  the  very  beginning,  for  we 
owe  to  him  the  statement  that "  as  the  irradiancy 

1  The  Lover's  Seat,  London,  i.  36. 

2  Passages  from  the  Correspondence  of  Rufus  W.  Griswdd, 
p.  46. 


144     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

of  a  diamond  depends  upon  its  diaphanous  trans- 
lucency,  so  does  the  beauty  of  a  poem  upon  its 
rhythmical  crystallization  of  the  Divine  Idea." 
One  cannot  turn  a  page  of  Chivers  without  re- 
cognizing that  he  at  his  best  was  very  closely 
allied  to  Poe  at  his  worst.  Such  a  verse  as 
the  following  was  not  an  imitation,  but  a  twin 
blossom  :  — 

"  On  the  beryl-rimmed  rebecs  of  Ruby 

Brought  fresh  from  the  hyaline  streams, 
She  played  on  the  banks  of  the  Yuba 

Such  songs  as  she  heard  in  her  dreams, 
Like  the  heavens  when  the  stars  from  their  eyries 

Look  down  through  the  ebon  night  air, 
Where  the  groves  by  the  Ouphantic  Fairies 
Lit  up  for  my  Lily  Adair, 
For  my  child-like  Lily  Adair, 
For  my  heaven-born  Lily  Adair, 
For  my  beautiful,  dutiful  Lily  Adair." 

It  is  easy  to  guess  that  Longfellow,  in  his 
"  North  American  Review  "  article,  drew  from 
Dr.  Chivers  and  his  kin  his  picture  of  those 
"  writers,  turgid  and  extravagant,"  to  be  found 
in  American  literature.  He  farther  says  of 
them  :  "  Instead  of  ideas,  they  give  us  merely 
the  signs  of  ideas.  They  erect  a  great  bridge 
of  words,  pompous  and  imposing,  where  there  is 
hardly  a  drop  of  thought  to  trickle  beneath.  Is 
not  he  who  thus  apostrophizes  the  clouds,  '  Ye 
posters  of  the  wakeless  air  !  '  quite  as  extrava- 
gant as  the  Spanish  poet,  who  calls  a  star  a 


VOICES  OF  THE  NIGHT  145 

4  burning  doubloon  of  the  celestial  bank  '  ?  "  l 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  this  exuberant  poet 
Chivers  claimed  a  certain  sympathy 2  with  the 
Boston  "  Dial  "  and  with  the  transcendental 
movement,  which  had  a  full  supply  of  its  own  ex- 
travagances ;  and  it  is  clear  that  between  these 
two  rhetorical  extremes  there  was  needed  a  voice 
for  simplicity.  Undoubtedly  Bryant  had  an  in- 
fluence in  the  same  direction  of  simplicity.  But 
Bryant  seemed  at  first  curiously  indifferent  to 
Longfellow.  "  Voices  of  the  Night "  was  pub- 
lished in  1839,  and  there  appeared  two  years 
after,  in  1841,  a  volume  entitled  "  Selections 
from  the  American  Poets,"  edited  by  Bryant,  in 
which  he  gave  eleven  pages  each  to  Percival  and 
Carlos  Wilcox,  nine  to  Pierpont,  eight  to  him- 
self, and  only  four  to  Longfellow.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  interpret  this  proportion  as  showing  that 
admiration  which  Bryant  seems  to  have  attrib- 
uted to  himself  five  years  later  when  he  wrote 
to  him  of  the  illustrated  edition  of  his  poems, 
"  They  appear  to  be  more  beautiful  than  on 
former  readings,  much  as  I  then  admired  them. 
The  exquisite  music  of  your  verse  dwells  more 
than  ever  on  my  ear."  3  Their  personal  relation 

1  North  American  Review,  xxxiv.  75. 

2  Passages  from  the  Correspondence  of  Rufus  W.  Griswold, 
p.  46. 

3  Life,  ii.  31. 


146     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

remained  always  cordial,  but  never  intimate, 
Longfellow  always  recognizing  his  early  obliga- 
tions to  the  elder  bard  and  always  keeping  by 
him  the  first  edition  of  Bryant's  poems,  published 
in  1821.  Both  poets  were  descended  from  a 
common  pilgrim  ancestry  in  John  Alden  and 
Priscilla  Mullins,  whose  story  Longfellow  has 
told.1 

Thus  much  for  first  experiences  with  the 
world  of  readers.  The  young  professor's  aca- 
demical standing  and  services  must  be  reserved 
for  another  chapter.  But  he  at  once  found  him- 
self, apart  from  this,  a  member  of  a  most  agree- 
able social  circle,  for  which  his  naturally  cheer- 
ful temperament  admirably  fitted  him.  It  is 
indeed  doubtful  if  any  Harvard  professor  of 
to-day  could  record  in  his  note-books  an  equally 
continuous  course  of  mild  festivities.  There 
are  weeks  when  he  never  spends  an  evening  at 
home.  He  often  describes  himself  as  "  gloomy," 
but  the  gloom  is  never  long  visible.  He  con- 
stantly walks  in  and  out  of  Boston,  or  drives 
to  Brookline  or  Jamaica  Plain ;  and  whist  and 
little  suppers  are  never  long  omitted.  Lowell 
was  not  as  yet  promoted  to  his  friendship  be- 
cause of  youth,  nor  had  he  and  Holmes  then 
been  especially  brought  together,  but  Prescott, 
Sumner,  Felton,  and  others  constantly  appear. 

1  Bigelow's  Life  of  Bryant,  p.  3. 


VOICES  OF  THE  NIGHT  147 

He  draws  the  line  at  a  fancy  ball,  declining  to 
costume  himself  for  that  purpose ;  and  he  writes 
that  he  never  dances,  but  in  other  respects  spends 
his  evenings  after  his  own  inclination.  Two 
years  later,  however,  he  mentions  his  purpose  of 
going  to  a  subscription  ball  "  for  the  purpose  of 
dancing  with  elderly  ladies,"  who  are,  he  thinks, 
"much  more  grateful  for  slight  attentions  than 
younger  ones." 

It  is  curious  to  find  the  fact  made  prominent 
by  all  contemporary  critics,  in  their  references 
to  the  young  professor,  that  he  was  at  this  time 
not  only  neat  in  person,  but  with  a  standard  of 
costume  which  made  him  rather  exceptional.  To 
those  accustomed  to  the  average  dress  of  instruc- 
tors in  many  colleges  up  to  this  day,  this  spirit 
of  criticism  may  afford  no  surprise.  His  brother 
tells  us  that  "  good  Mrs.  Craigie  thought  he  had 
somewhat  too  gay  a  look,"  and  "  had  a  fondness 
for  colors  in  coats,  waistcoats,  and  neckties." 
It  will  be  remembered  that  in  "  Hyperion  "  he 
makes  the  Baron  say  to  Paul  Flemming,  "  The 
ladies  already  begin  to  call  you  Wilhelm  Meis- 
ter,  and  they  say  that  your  gloves  are  a  shade 
too  light  for  a  strictly  virtuous  man."  He  wrote 
also  to  Sumner  when  in  Europe :  "  If  you  have 
any  tendency  to  curl  your  hair  and  wear  gloves 
like  Edgar  in  '  Lear,'  do  it  before  your  return." 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  he  wrote  of  himself 


148     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

about  the  same  time  to  his  friend,  George  W. 
Greene,  in  Rome :  "  Most  of  the  time  am  alone ; 
smoke  a  good  deal ;  wear  a  broad-brimmed  hat, 
black  frock  coat,  a  black  cane." l 

Of  the  warmth  of  heart  which  lay  beneath 
this  perhaps  worldly  exterior,  the  following  let- 
ter to  his  youthful  sister-in-law  gives  evi- 
dence :  — 

Friday  evening  [1837]. 

MY  GOOD,  DEAR  MADGE,  —  You  do  not 
know  how  sorry  I  am,  that  I  cannot  see  you. 
But  for  a  week  past  I  have  hardly  left  my  cham- 
ber. I  have  been  so  ill  as  to  give  up  all  Col- 
lege duties,  Lectures,  &c. ;  and  am  very  happy 
to  get  through  —  (as  I  trust  I  shall)  without  a 
fever,  which  I  have  been  expecting  for  several 
days  past.  To-night  I  am  better  and  have 
crawled  off  the  sofa,  to  write  you  half  a  dozen 
lines. 

My  dear  little  child ;  I  am  truly  delighted  to 
know  you  are  in  Boston.  It  is  an  unexpected 
pleasure  to  me.  Of  course  you  mean  to  stay  all 
summer  ;  and  I  shall  see  you  very  often.  Write 
me  immediately ;  and  tell  me  everything  about 
everybody.  I  shall  come  and  kiss  you  to  death, 
as  soon  as  my  bodily  strength  will  permit. 
Till  then  very  truly 

my  little  dear, 
Yr.  BROTHER  HENRY. 

i  Life,  i.  256,  304. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THIKD   VISIT   TO   EUROPE 

THE  year  1841  was  on  the  whole  a  rather 
dazzling  period  for  the  young  poet.  His  first 
volume  had  been  received  with  enthusiasm.  His 
second  volume  was  under  way.  He  had  a  circle 
of  friends  always  ready  to  criticise  any  new 
poem  or  to  propose  themes  for  other  works ; 
chief  among  the  latter  being  his  friend  Sam- 
uel Ward,  in  New  York,  who  suggested  the 
"  Phantom  Ship,"  on  the  basis  of  a  legend  in 
Mather's  "  Magnalia,"  and  urged  the  translation 
of  Uhland's  "  Das  Gliick  von  Edenhall "  and 
Pfizer's  "  Junggesell."  A  scrap  of  newspaper, 
bearing  the  seal  of  the  State  of  New  York  with 
the  motto  "Excelsior,"  suggested  the  poem  of 
that  name.  "  The  Skeleton  in  Armor  "  was  in- 
cluded within  the  book  and  was  originally  to 
have  given  the  title  to  it.  Prescott,  the  histo- 
rian, said  that  this  poem  and  the  "  Hesperus  " 
were  the  best  imaginative  poems  since  Cole- 
ridge's "  Ancient  Mariner."  Reading  the  tenth 
chapter  of  Mark  in  Greek,  Longfellow  thought 
of  "  Blind  Bartimeus."  He  wrote  to  his  father 


150     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

that  he  liked  the  last  two  poems  in  the  volume 
best,  and  thought  them  perhaps  as  good  as  any- 
thing he  had  written,  —  these  being  "  Maiden- 
hood "  and  "  Excelsior."  It  was  also  in  this 
year  that  he  conceived  the  plan  of  the  "  Spanish 
Student "  and  of  "  a  long  and  elaborate  poem 
by  the  holy  name  of  '  Christ,'  the  theme  of  which 
would  be  the  various  aspects  of  Christendom  in 
the  Apostolic,  Middle,  and  Modern  Ages."  It 
shows  the  quiet  persistence  of  the  poet's  nature 
that  this  plan,  thus  conceived  in  1841,  was 
brought  to  a  final  conclusion,  more  than  thirty 
years  after,  in  1873,  and  under  the  very  name 
originally  conceived,  that  of  "  Christus."  Thus 
much  for  this  year  of  poetic  achievement.  His 
journals,  as  published  by  his  brother,  show  the 
activity  of  social  life  which  the  year  also  in- 
cluded ;  and,  above  all,  his  regular  academic 
work  was  of  itself  continuous  and  exhaust- 
ing. In  the  schedule  of  university  lectures,  an- 
nounced in  the  college  catalogue  for  1841-2, 
one  finds  the  following  entry :  "  On  the  French, 
Spanish,  Italian,  and  German  languages  and 
literature,  by  Professor  Longfellow."  In  the 
list  of  officers  there  appear  only  three  instruc- 
tors as  doing  the  detailed  work  of  instruction 
under  this  professor,  and  the  lecturing  was  done 
entirely  by  him,  occupying  three  hours  a  week, 
on  the  afternoons  of  Monday,  Wednesday,  and 


THIRD   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  151 

Friday.  He  was  designated  in  the  catalogue 
as  "  Smith  Professor  of  the  French  and  Span- 
ish languages  and  literature  and  Professor  of 
Belles  Lettres,"  whatever  this  last  phrase  may 
have  been  construed  as  including.  He  had  also 
the  supervision  of  his  subordinates,  the  exami- 
nation of  written  exercises,  and  the  attendance 
upon  faculty  meetings ;  and  it  certainly  is  no 
cause  for  wonder  that  the  following  letters 
should  have  passed  between  him  and  the  col- 
lege authorities. 

[1839]. 

GENTLEMEN,  —  I  respectfully  beg  leave  to 
call  your  attention  once  more  to  the  subject  of 
my  duties  as  Smith  Professor  in  the  University. 
You  will  recollect  that  when  I  entered  upon  my 
labors  in  the  Department  of  Modern  Languages, 
the  special  duties,  which  devolved  upon  me  as 
Head  of  that  Department,  and  Professor  of 
Belles  Lettres,  were  agreed  upon  by  a  Commit- 
tee of  the  Corporation  and  myself.  Native 
teachers  having  always  been  employed  to  in- 
struct in  the  elements  and  pronunciation  of  the 
Modern  Languages,  the  general  supervision  of 
the  Department,  instruction  in  some  of  the 
higher  works  of  modern  foreign  literature,  and 
certain  courses  of  Lectures  were  assigned  to  me. 
This  arrangement,  so  far  as  I  know,  proved  sat- 
isfactory to  all  the  parties  concerned. 


152     HENRY  WADS  WORTH  LONGFELLOW 

You  will  also  recollect,  that  in  the  Summer  of 
1838,  two  gentlemen,  namely  the  French  and  the 
German  Instructors,  for  reasons  which  it  is  un- 
necessary to  specify,  resigned.  Another  Ger- 
man teacher  was  immediately  appointed ;  but  as 
no  suitable  person  occurred  at  the  moment  to 
fill  the  place  of  French  Instructor,  the  appoint- 
ment of  one  was  postponed  for  a  season,  and 
I  consented  to  take  charge  of  the  Classes  in 
that  language.  I  would  respectfully  remind  you 
of  the  distinct  understanding  at  the  time,  that 
this  arrangement  was  to  be  only  a  temporary 
one,  and  to  be  given  up  as  soon  as  a  suitable  ap- 
pointment could  be  made.  It  so  happened,  how- 
ever, that  I  continued  to  instruct  in  the  French 
language  during  the  whole  year. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  present  aca- 
demical year,  I  proposed  the  name  of  a  French 
gentleman,  and  this  nomination  was  laid  by  the 
President  before  your  honorable  body.  No  ap- 
pointment, however,  was  made ;  but  on  the  con- 
trary a  vote  was  passed,  requiring  the  Smith 
Professor  to  instruct  all  the  French  classes  for 
the  future. 

I  do  not,  of  course,  Gentlemen,  call  in  ques- 
tion your  right  to  modify  the  duties  of  my  Pro- 
fessorship ;  and  I  have  proceeded  to  organize 
the  classes,  and  commence  the  instruction  in  the 
Elements  of  the  French  language,  agreeably  to 


THIRD   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  153 

your  vote.  But  I  still  entertain  the  [hope] 
that  a  different  arrangement,  and  one  more  in 
harmony  with  the  intent  of  a  Professorship  of 
Belles  Lettres,  and  more  advantageous  to  the 
University,  may  yet  be  made.  The  symmetry 
and  completeness  of  the  Department  are  at  pre- 
sent destroyed.  The  organization  introduced  by 
Mr.  Ticknor,  and  continued  successfully  to  the 
great  honor  of  the  University  is  broken  up.  The 
French  language  has  no  native  teacher.  And  I 
submit  to  you,  Gentlemen,  whether  depriving  the 
Department  of  the  services  of  such  a  teacher  will 
not  justly  be  regarded  by  the  public  as  lessening 
the  advantages  of  a  residence  at  the  University. 
I  have  now  unde'r  my  charge  115  students  in 
French,  and  30  in  German.  Of  course,  with  so 
many  pupils  my  time  is  fully  occupied.  I  can 
exercise  but  little  superintendence  over  the  De- 
partment ;  and  have  no  leisure  for  the  prosecu- 
tion of  those  studies,  which  are  absolutely  requi- 
site for  the  proper  discharge  of  the  duties  origi- 
nally prescribed  to  me.  When  the  labor  of 
mastering  the  Literature  of  even  a  single  nation 
is  considered,  —  the  utter  impossibility  of  my 
accomplishing  anything,  under  the  present  ar- 
rangement,—  in  the  various  fields  of  Foreign 
Literature,  over  which  my  Professorship  ranges, 
will  be  at  once  apparent.  An  object  of  greater 
importance  is  clearly  sacrificed  to  one  of  less.  I 


154     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

am  required  to  withdraw  from  those  literary 
studies  and  instructions,  which  had  been  origi- 
nally marked  out  for  me,  and  to  devote  my 
time  to  Elementary  Instruction.  Now  if  my 
labors  are  of  any  importance  to  the  College  it  is 
to  the  former  class  of  duties,  that  the  impor- 
tance belongs.  The  latter  can  be  performed  as 
well,  perhaps  better,  by  an  instructor,  employed 
and  paid  in  the  usual  way.  In  point  of  fact, 
my  office  as  Professor  of  Belles  Lettres  is  almost 
annihilated,  and  I  have  become  merely  a  teacher 
of  French.  To  remedy  this,  Gentlemen,  I  make 
to  you  the  following  propositions  :  — 

I.  That  I  should  be  wholly  separated  from 
the  Department  of  Modern  Languages,  and  be 
only  Professor  of  Belles  Lettres. 

II.  That  I  should  reside,  as   now,  in    Cam- 
bridge. 

III.  That  I  should  not  be  a  member  of  the 
Faculty. 

IV.  That  my  duties  be  confined  to  lecturing 
during  the  Autumn  Term ;  and  the  rest  of  the 
year  be  at  my  own  disposal,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Professor  of  History. 

V.  In    consideration  of   which   I   relinquish 
one  half  of  my  present  income  from  the  College, 
and  receive  only  one  thousand  dollars  per  an- 
num.      Respectfully  submitted,  &c.,  &c. 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW.1 

1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  2d  ser.ix.  318. 


THIRD   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  155 

The  committee  to  which  was  referred  the 
memorial  of  Professor  Longfellow  reports  :  — 

That  in  conformity  with  his  wishes,  one  of 
two  modifications  of  his  existing  duties  may  be 
admitted  consistently  with  the  interest  of  the 
University,  both  being  predicated  upon  the  plan 
of  substituting  a  native  of  France  as  a  principal 
teacher  of  the  French  language. 

1.  That  Professor  Longfellow's  services  should 
be  limited    to  public  lectures  and  oral  instruc- 
tion &  relief  from  all  other  teaching,  &  to  con- 
tinue the  general  superintendence  of  the  Depart- 
ment and  to  continue  his  lectures  both  terms  and 
receive  a  salary  of  One  Thousand  dollars. 

2.  That  he  perform  the  above  and  give  in- 
struction by  hearing  recitations  of  the  advance 
Classes  in  French,  in  both  terms,  and  also  of 
all  the  surplus  of  the  Students  in  French,  when 
their  numbers  shall  exceed  One  Hundred  &  to 
receive  a  salary  of  Fifteen  hundred  dollars. 

The  committee  submit  it  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
board,  which  of  these  modifications  is  preferable. 

For  the  Committee, 
26  Oct.  1839.  JOSIAH  QuiNCY.1 

At  a  later  period  came  the  following :  — 

GENTLEMEN,  —  I  am  reluctantly  compelled 
by  the  state  of  my  health  to  ask  leave  of  ab- 

1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  2d  ser.  ix.  336. 


156     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

sence  from  the  College  for  six  months  from 
the  first  of  May  next.  In  this  time  I  propose 
to  visit  Germany,  to  try  the  effect  of  certain 
baths,  by  means  of  which,  as  well  as  by  the 
relaxation  and  the  sea-voyage,  I  hope  to  rees- 
tablish my  health.  My  medical  attendant  ad- 
vises this  course  as  more  efficacious  than  any 
treatment  I  can  receive  at  home. 

I  shall  be  able,  before  leaving,  to  deliver  all 
the  lectures  of  the  Spring  Term ;  and  on  my 
return  in  November,  those  of  the  Autumn  Term 
before  its  close;  and  it  is  in  reference  to  the 
necessary  arrangements  for  this,  that  I  make 
thus  early  my  application  for  leave  of  absence. 
The  general  supervision  of  the  Department  will 
be  undertaken  by  Professor  Felton,  without  any 
charge  to  the  College ;  —  the  classes  will  lose 
none  of  their  lectures  ;  —  and  I  trust  the  inter- 
ests of  the  College  will  not  suffer. 

I  would  repeat  in  conclusion  that  the  state  of 
my  health  is  the  sole  reason  of  my  making  this 
request. 

I  am,  Gentlemen, 
Your  Otf  Serf 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW.* 

HARVARD  UNIVERSITY,  January  24, 1842. 
To  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Harvard  University. 
1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  2d  ser.  x.  363. 


THIRD   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  157 

He  sailed  on  April  23, 1842,  and  although  his 
health  gained  during  the  summer,  was  yet  obliged 
to  ask  for  an  extension  of  time,  as  follows :  — 

MARIENBERG,  September  3,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIK  [Hon.  Josiah  Quincy] , — When 
I  left  you  in  the  Spring,  I  thought  by  this  time  I 
should  have  recovered  my  health  and  be  setting 
my  face  homeward.  In  this  I  have  been  disap- 
pointed. My  recovery  has  been  slower  than  I 
expected ;  and  though  considerably  better  than 
when  I  arrived  here,  I  am  yet  far  from  being 
well.  The  Doctor  urges  me  very  strongly  to 
remain  longer.  He  thinks  it  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance to  my  future  health,  for  years  to  come, 
that  I  should  do  so.  He  says,  that  if  I  look  for- 
ward to  a  life  of  intellectual  labor,  in  his  opinion 
"  it  is  absolutely  necessary  I  should  give  up  all 
thought  of  returning  home  before  next  Summer, 
devoting  the  time  to  reestablishing  my  health, 
and  avoiding  all  severe  study."  I  quote  these 
words  from  a  written  opinion  which  he  gave  me 
this  morning;  and  in  consequence  of  which  I 
have  determined  to  ask  leave  of  absence  until 
that  time,  unless  the  state  of  my  department  in 
College  should  absolutely  demand  my  return. 

I  assure  you,  that  I  do  this  with  the  greatest 
reluctance.  I  have  no  desire  to  remain  here ;  on 
the  contrary  a  very  strong  desire  to  be  at  home 


158     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

and  at  work.  Still  I  wish  to  return  in  good 
health  and  spirits,  and  not  to  lead  a  maimed  life. 
I  fear,  and  the  physician  positively  asserts,  that 
if  I  go  back  now  I  shall  thwart  the  whole  object 
of  my  journey,  and  that  if  I  hope  to  be  well  I 
must  go  on  with  the  baths. 

I  have  therefore  concluded  to  remain  here 
until  I  receive  an  answer  from  you ;  promising 
myself  that  when  I  once  escape  from  this  hospi- 
tal I  will  never  enter  another  until  that  final  one 
appointed  for  all  the  poets. 

Will  you  have  the  goodness  to  say  to  your 
daughter,  Miss  Quincy,  that  I  left  her  package 
for  MX  Graham  at  its  address  in  Havre ;  and 
presume  it  reached  him  safely.  In  coming 
through  France  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  go 
into  Brittany,  and  avail  myself  of  your  letter  of 
introduction  to  him ;  the  place  of  his  residence 
lying  too  far  out  of  my  route.  From  Paris  I 
came  through  Belgium  to  this  ancient  city  of 
Boppard,  where  I  have  remained  stationary  since 
the  first  of  June. 

With  kind  remembrances  to  Mrs.  Quincy  and 
your  family, 

Very  truly  yours 

HENKY  W.  LONGFELLOW.1 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  manner  in  which 
this  appeal  was  met  by  the  economical  college. 

1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  2d  ser.  xi.  153. 


THIRD   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  159 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW,  ESQ. 

SIR,  —  I  perceive  with  great  regret,  by  your 
letter  of  the  3d  Inst.  that,  although  you  have 
followed  with  due  precision  the  prescriptions  of 
the  German  Doctor  who 

corpus  recent! 
sparget  aqua, 

convalescence  is  not  yet  attained,  but  that  the 
water  spirit  has  announced  that  another  year  is 
required  in  order  to  obtain  the  full  benefit  of  his 
draughts  and  ablutions.  The  fact  is  "a  source  of 
great  sorrow  to  your  friends  and  of  no  less  em- 
barrassment to  the  Corporation  of  the  College. 
The  granting  the  leave  of  six  months'  absence 
was  effected,  not  without  difficulty.  Doubts 
were  expressed  concerning  the  possibility  of  your 
realizing  your  expectations,  within  the  period  you 
specified ;  and  the  objections  were  surmounted 
only  on  your  assurance  that  you  would  return  in 
October,  and  that  the  benefit  of  your  instruc- 
tions should  not  be  lost,  by  any  [class]  of  the 
college,  according  to  the  arrangements  you  made. 
It  was  on  this  fact,  and  on  this  assurance  alone, 
that  assent  of  the  Corporation  was  obtained.  By 
the  proposition  you  now  make  the  present  Senior 
class  will  be  deprived  of  the  advantages,  on  which 
they  have  a  right  to  calculate  and  have  been 
taught  to  expect. 

Under  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  the  Cor- 
poration do  not  feel  themselves  willing  abso- 


160     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

lately  to  withhold  their  assent  to  your  protract- 
ing your  absence  as  you  propose ;  at  the  same 
time  they  are  compelled  by  their  sense  of  duty 
&  I  am  authorized  to  state,  that  they,  regarding 
themselves,  not  as  proprietors,  but  as  trustees,  of 
the  funds  under  their  control,  cannot  deem  them- 
selves justified  in  paying  the  salary  of  the  Pro- 
fessorship to  a  Professor,  not  resident  &  not 
performing  its  duties.  They  value  your  services 
very  highly,  and  are  therefore  willing,  if  you  see 
fit  to  remain  another  year  in  Europe,  to  keep 
the  Professorship  open  for  your  return  ;  but  I 
am  directed  to  say  that,  in  such  case,  your  salary 
must  cease,  at  the  end  of  the  current  quarter  — 
viz.  on  the  30  of  November  next. 

The  obligation  thus  imposed  on  the  Corpora- 
tion, it  is  very  painful  to  them  to  fulfil,  but  they 
cannot  otherwise  execute  the  trust  they  have 
undertaken,  conformably  to  their  sense  of  duty. 

And  now,  Sir,  permit  me  to  express  my  best 
wishes  for  your  health ;  the  high  sense  I  entertain 
of  your  talents  and  attainments  and  the  unal- 
tered esteem  &  respect  with  which  I  ain,  most 
truly. 

Your  friend  and 

hl*S* 

JOSIAH   QUINCY.1 
CAMBRIDGE. 
30.  Sep.  1842. 

1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  2d  ser.  xi.  187. 


THIRD   VISIT  TO  EUROPE  161 

Longfellow  spent  his  summer  at  the  water- 
cure  in  Marienberg,  with  some  diverging  trips,  as 
those  to  Paris,  Antwerp,  and  Bruges.  In  Paris 
he  took  a  letter  to  Jules  Janin,  now  pretty  well 
forgotten,  but  then  the  foremost  critic  in  Paris, 
who  disliked  the  society  of  literary  men,  saying 
that  he  never  saw  them  and  never  wished  to  see 
them ;  and  who  had  quarrelled  personally  with 
all  the  French  authors,  except  Lamartine,  whom 
he  pronounced  "  as  good  as  an  angel."  In  Bruges 
the  young  traveller  took  delight  in  the  belfry, 
and  lived  to  transmit  some  of  its  charms  to  others. 
At  Antwerp  he  had  the  glories  of  the  cathedral, 
the  memory  of  Quintin  Matsys,  and  the  paint- 
ings of  Rubens.  His  home  at  Marienberg  was 
in  an  ancient  cloister  for  noble  nuns,  converted 
into  a  water-cure,  then  a  novelty  and  much 
severer  in  its  discipline  than  its  later  copies  in 
America,  to  one  of  which,  however,  Longfellow 
himself  went  later  as  a  patient,  —  that  of  Dr. 
Wesselhoeft  at  Brattleboro,  Vermont.  He  met 
or  read  German  poets  also,  —  Becker,  Herwegh, 
Lenau,  Auersberg,  Zedlitz,  and  Freiligrath,  with 
the  latter  of  whom  he  became  intimate ;  indeed 
reading  aloud  to  admiring  nuns  his  charming 
poem  about  "  The  Flowers'  Revenge  "  (Der  Blu- 
men  JKache).  He  just  missed  seeing  Uhland, 
the  only  German  poet  then  more  popular  than 
Freiligrath ;  he  visited  camps  of  50,000  troops 


162    HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

and  another  camp  of  naturalists  at  Mayence. 
Meantime,  he  heard  from  Prescott,  Sumner,  and 
Felton  at  home  ;  the  "  Spanish  Student  "  went 
through  the  press,  and  his  friend  Hawthorne 
was  married.  He  finally  sailed  for  home  on 
October  22,  1842,  and  occupied  himself  on  the 
voyage  in  writing  a  small  volume  of  poems  on 
slavery. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

ANTI-SLAVERY  POEMS   AND   SECOND    MARRIAGE 

IT  is  difficult  now  to  realize  what  an  event  in 
Longfellow's  life  was  the  fact  of  his  writing  a 
series  of  anti-slavery  poems  on  board  ship  and 
publishing  them  in  a  thin  pamphlet  on  his  return. 
Parties  on  the  subject  were  already  strongly 
drawn ;  the  anti-slavery  party  being  itself  di- 
vided into  subdivisions  which  criticised  each 
other  sharply.  Longfellow's  temperament  was 
thoroughly  gentle  and  shunned  extremes,  so  that 
the  little  thin  yellow-covered  volume  came  upon 
the  community  with  something  like  a  shock.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  various  influences  had  led  him 
up  to  it.  His  father  had  been  a  subscriber  to 
Benjamin  Lundy's  "  Genius  of  Universal  Eman- 
cipation," the  precursor  of  Garrison's  "  Libera- 
tor." In  his  youth  at  Brunswick,  Longfellow 
had  thought  of  writing  a  drama  on  the  subject 
of  "Toussaint  1'Ouverture,"  his  reason  for  it 
being  thus  given,  "that  thus  I  may  do  some- 
thing in  my  humble  way  for  the  great  cause 
of  negro  emancipation." 

Margaret  Fuller,  who  could  by  no  means  be 


164     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

called  an  abolitionist,  described  the  volume  as 
"  the  thinnest  of  all  Mr.  Longfellow's  thin  books  ; 
spirited  and  polished  like  its  forerunners  ;  but 
the  subject  would  warrant  a  deeper  tone."  On 
the  other  hand,  the  editors  of  "  Graham's  Maga- 
zine "  wrote  to  Mr.  Longfellow  that  "  the  word 
slavery  was  never  allowed  to  appear  in  a  Phila- 
delphia periodical,"  and  that  "  the  publisher  ob- 
jected to  have  even  the  name  of  the  book  appear 
in  his  pages."  His  friend  Samuel  Ward,  al- 
ways an  agreeable  man  of  the  world,  wrote  from 
New  York  of  the  poems,  "  They  excite  a  good  deal 
of  attention  and  sell  rapidly.  I  have  sent  one 
copy  to  the  South  and  others  shall  follow,"  and 
includes  Longfellow  among  "  you  abolitionists." 
The  effect  of  the  poems  was  unquestionably  to 
throw  him  on  the  right  side  of  the  great  moral 
contest  then  rising  to  its  climax,  while  he  incurred, 
like  his  great  compeers,  Channing,  Emerson,  and 
Sumner,  some  criticism  from  the  pioneers. 
Such  differences  are  inevitable  among  reformers, 
whose  internal  contests  are  apt  to  be  more  stren- 
uous and  formidable  than  those  incurred  between 
opponents  ;  and  recall  to  mind  that  remark  of 
Cosmo  de  Medici  which  Lord  Bacon  called  "  a 
desperate  saying;"  namely,  that  "Holy  Writ 
bids  us  to  forgive  our  enemies,  but  it  is  nowhere 
enjoined  upon  us  that  we  should  forgive  our 
friends." 


ANTI-SLAVERY  POEMS  165 

To  George  Lunt,  a  poet  whose  rhymes  Long- 
fellow admired,  but  who  bitterly  opposed  the 
anti-slavery  movement,  he  writes  his  programme 
as  follows :  — 

"  I  am  sorry  you  find  so  much  to  gainsay 
in  my  Poems  on  Slavery.  I  shall  not  argue  the 
point  with  you,  however,  but  will  simply  state  to 
you  my  belief. 

"  1.  I  believe  slavery  to  be  an  unrighteous 
institution,  based  on  the  false  maxim  that  Might 
makes  Right. 

"  2.  I  have  great  faith  in  doing  what  is  right- 
eous, and  fear  no  evil  consequences. 

"  3.  I  believe  that  every  one  has  a  perfect 
right  to  express  his  opinion  on  the  subject  of 
Slavery,  as  on  every  other  thing ;  that  every  one 
ought  so  to  do,  until  the  public  opinion  of  all 
Christendom  shall  penetrate  into  and  change  the 
hearts  of  the  Southerners  on  this  subject. 

"  4.  I  would  have  no  other  interference  than 
what  is  sanctioned  by  law. 

"  5.  I  believe  that  where  there  is  a  will  there  is 
a  way.  When  the  whole  country  sincerely  wishes 
to  get  rid  of  Slavery,  it  will  readily  find  the  means. 

"  6.  Let  us,  therefore,  do  all  we  can  to  bring 
about  this  will,  in  all  gentleness  and  Christian 
charity. 

"  And  God  speed  the  time !  "  J 

1  Life,  ii.  8. 


166     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

Mr.  Longfellow  was,  I  think,  not  quite  justly 
treated  by  the  critics,  or  even  by  his  latest  bio- 
grapher, Professor  Carpenter,1  for  consenting  to 
the  omission  of  the  anti-slavery  poems  from  his 
works,  published  by  Carey  and  Hart  in  Phila- 
delphia in  November,  1845.  This  was  an  illus- 
trated edition  which  had  been  for  some  time 
in  preparation  and  did  not  apparently,  like  the 
nearly  simultaneous  edition  of  Harper,  assume  to 
contain  his  complete  works.  The  Harper  edition 
was  published  in  February,  1846,  in  cheaper  form 
and  double  columns,  and  was  the  really  collective 
edition,  containing  the  anti-slavery  poems  and 
all.  As  we  do  not  know  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  it  cannot  positively  be  asserted  why  this 
variation  occurred,  but  inasmuch  as  the  Harpers 
were  at  that  period,  and  for  many  years  after, 
thoroughly  conservative  on  the  slavery  question 
and  extremely  opposed  to  referring  to  it  in 
any  way,  it  is  pretty  certain  that  it  must  have 
been  because  of  the  positive  demand  of  Long- 
fellow that  these  poems  were  included  by  them. 
The  criticism  of  the  abolitionists  on  him  was  un- 
doubtedly strengthened  by  the  apostrophe  to 
the  Union  at  the  close  of  his  poem,  "  The  Build- 
ing of  the  Ship,"  in  1850,  a  passage  which  was 
described  by  William  Lloyd  Garrison  in  the 
"  Liberator "  as  "  a  eulogy  dripping  with  the 
1  Beacon  Biographies  (Longfellow*),  p.  77. 


ANTI-SLA  VER  Y  POEMS  167 

blood  of  imbruted  humanity,"  l  and  was  quite  as 
severely  viewed  by  one  of  the  most  zealous  of 
the  Irish  abolitionists,  who  thus  wrote  to  their 
friends  in  Boston :  — 

DUBLIN  [  IRELAND  ],  April  28, 1850. 

[After  speaking  about  Miss  Weston's  dis- 
pleasure with  Whittier  and  her  being  unfair  to 
him,  etc.,  the  letter  adds  — ] 

Is  it  not  a  poor  thing  for  Longfellow  that  he 
is  no  abolitionist  —  that  his  anti-slavery  poetry 
is  perfect  dish  water  beside  Whittier's —  and 
that  he  has  just  penned  a  Paean  on  the  Union? 
I  can  no  more  comprehend  what  there  is  in 
the  Union  to  make  the  Yankee  nation  adore  it 
—  than  you  can  understand  the  attractions  of 
Royalty  &  Aristocracy  which  thousands  of  very 
good  people  in  England  look  on  as  the  source 
&  mainstay  of  all  that  is  great  and  good  in  the 
nation.  .  .  . 

RICH  D.  WEBB.2 

Yet  Mr.  Whittier  himself,  though  thus  con- 
trasted with  Longfellow,  had  written  thanking 
him  for  his  "  Poems  on  Slavery,"  which  in  tract 
form,  he  said,  "had  been  of  important  service 
to  the  Liberty  movement."  Whittier  had  also 
asked  whether  Longfellow  would  accept  a  nomi- 

1  Garrison's  Memoirs,  iii.  280. 


168     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

nation  to  Congress  from  the  Liberty  Party,  and 
had  added,  "  Our  friends  think  they  could  throw 
for  thee  one  thousand  more  votes  than  for  any 
other  man."  1  Nor  was  Whittier  himself  ever 
a  disuniouist,  even  on  anti-slavery  grounds. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  it  was  apparently 
the  anti-slavery  question  which  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  the  intimacy  between  Longfellow  and 
Lowell.  Lowell  had  been  invited,  on  the  publica- 
tion of  "  A  Year's  Life,"  to  write  for  an  annual 
which  was  to  appear  in  Boston  and  to  be  edited, 
in  Lowell's  own  phrase,  "  by  Longfellow,  Felton, 
Hillard  and  that  set."2  Lowell  subsequently 
wrote  in  the  "  Pioneer  "  kindly  notices  of  Long- 
fellow's "Poems  on  Slavery,"  but  there  is  no 
immediate  evidence  of  any  personal  relations 
between  them  at  that  time.  In  a  letter  to  Poe, 
dated  at  Elmwood  June  27, 1844,  Lowell  says  of  a 
recent  article  in  the  "  Foreign  Quarterly  Review  " 
attributed  to  John  Forster,  "  Forster  is  a  friend 
of  some  of  the  Longfellow  clique  here,  which 
perhaps  accounts  for  his  putting  L.  at  the  top 
of  our  Parnassus.  These  kinds  of  arrangements 
do  very  well,  however,  for  the  present."  3  .  .  . 
It  will  be  noticed  that  what  Lowell  had  origi- 
nally called  a  "  set "  has  now  become  a  "  clique." 

1  Life,  ii.  20. 

2  Scudder's  Lowell,  i.  93. 

8  Correspondence  of  It.  W.  Griswold,  p.  151. 


ANTI-SLAVERY  POEMS  169 

It  is  also  evident  that  he  did  not  regard  Long- 
fellow as  the  assured  head  of  the  American 
Parnassus,  and  at  any  rate  he  suggests  some 
possible  rearrangement  for  the  future.  Their 
real  friendship  seems  to  have  begun  with  a 
visit  by  Longfellow  to  Lowell's  study  on  Octo- 
ber 29,  1846,  when  the  conversation  turned 
chiefly  on  the  slavery  question.  Longfellow 
called  to  see  him  again  on  the  publication  of  his 
second  volume  of  poems,  at  the  end  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  and  Lowell  spent  an  evening  with 
Longfellow  during  March,  1848,  while  engaged 
on  "  The  Fable  for  Critics,"  in  which  the  younger 
poet  praised  the  elder  so  warmly. 

Longfellow's  own  state  of  mind  at  this  period 
is  well  summed  up  in  the  following  letter  to  his 
wife's  younger  sister,  Mrs.  Peter  Thacher,  then 
recently  a  mother. 

CAMBRIDGE,  Feb.  15,  1843. 

MY  DEAR  MARGARET,  —  I  was  very  much 
gratified  by  your  brief  epistle,  which  reached 
me  night  before  last,  and  brought  me  the  assur- 
ances of  your  kind  remembrance.  Believe  me, 
I  have  often  thought  of  you  and  your  husband  ; 
and  have  felt  that  your  new  home,  though  remote 
from  many  of  your  earlier  friends,  was  neverthe- 
less to  you  the  centre  of  a  world  of  happiness. 
With  your  affection,  and  your  "  young  Astya- 


170     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

nax,"  the  "  yellow  house "  becomes  a  golden 
palace. 

For  my  part,  Life  seems  to  be  to  me  "  a  battle 
and  a  march."  I  am  sometimes  well,  —  some- 
times ill,  and  always  restless.  My  late  expe- 
dition to  Germany  did  me  a  vast  deal  of  good  ; 
and  my  health  is  better  than  it  has  been  for 
years.  So  long  as  I  keep  out  of  doors  and  take 
exercise  enough,  I  feel  perfectly  well.  So  soon 
as  I  shut  myself  up  and  begin  to  study,  I  feel 
perfectly  ill.  Thus  the  Sphinx's  riddle  —  the 
secret  of  health  —  is  discovered.  In  Germany 
I  led  an  out-of-door  life ;  bathing  and  walking 
from  morning  till  night.  I  was  at  Boppard  on 
the  Rhine,  in  the  old  convent  of  Marienberg, 
now  a  Bathing  establishment.  I  travelled  a  lit- 
tle in  Germany ;  then  passed  through  Belgium 
to  England.  In  London  I  staid  with  Dickens ; 
and  had  a  very  pleasant  visit.  His  wife  is  a 
gentle,  lovely  character ;  and  he  has  four  children, 
all  beautiful  and  good.  I  saw  likewise  the  raven, 
who  is  stuffed  in  the  entry  —  and  his  successor, 
who  stalks  gravely  in  the  garden. 

I  am  very  sorry,  my  dear  Margaret,  that  I 
cannot  grant  your  request  in  regard  to  Mary's 
Journal.  Just  before  I  sailed  for  Europe,  being 
in  low  spirits,  and  reflecting  on  the  uncertainties 
of  such  an  expedition  as  I  was  then  beginning, 
I  burned  a  great  many  letters  and  private  papers, 


ANTI-SLAVERY  POEMS  171 

and   among  them  this.     I  now  regret  it ;   but 
alas!  too  late. 

Ah !  my  dear  Margaret !  though  somewhat 
wayward  and  restless,  I  most  affectionately 
cherish  the  memory  of  my  wife.  You  know 
how  happily  we  lived  together;  and  /  know 
that  never  again  shall  I  be  loved  with  such  de- 
votion, sincerity,  and  utter  forgetfulness  of  self. 
Make  her  your  model,  and  you  will  make  your 
husband  ever  happy ;  and  be  to  him  as  a  house- 
hold lamp  irradiating  his  darkest  hours. 

Give  my  best  regards  to  him.  I  should  like 
very  much  to  visit  you ;  but  know  not  how  I 
can  bring  it  about.  Kiss  "  young  Astyanax  " 
for  me,  and  believe  me  ever  affectionately  your 
brother 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW. 

Meanwhile  a  vast  change  in  his  life  was  ap- 
proaching. He  had  met,  seven  years  before  in 
Switzerland,  a  maiden  of  nineteen,  Frances 
Elizabeth  Apple  ton,  daughter  of  Nathan  Apple- 
ton,  a  Boston  merchant;  and  though  his  early 
sketch  of  her  in  "  Hyperion  "  may  have  implied 
little  on  either  side,  it  was  fulfilled  at  any  rate, 
after  these  years  of  acquaintance,  by  her  con- 
senting to  become  his  wife,  an  event  which  took 
place  on  the  13th  of  July,  1843,  and  was  thus 
announced  by  him  in  a  letter  to  Miss  Eliza 


172     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

A.  Potter   of   Portland,    his   first  wife's   elder 
sister. 

CAMBRIDGE,  May  25, 1843. 

MY  DEAK  ELIZA,  —  I  have  been  meaning  for 
a  week  or  more  to  write  you  in  order  to  tell  you 
of  my  engagement,  and  to  ask  your  sympathies 
and  good  wishes.  But  I  have  been  so  much  oc- 
cupied, and  have  had  so  many  letters  to  write, 
to  go  by  the  last  steamers,  that  I  have  been  rather 
neglectful  of  some  of  my  nearer  and  dearer 
friends  ;  trusting  to  their  kindness  for  my  ex- 
cuse. 

Yes,  my  dear  Eliza,  I  am  to  be  married  again. 
My  life  was  too  lonely  and  restless  ;  —  I  needed 
the  soothing  influences  of  a  home  ;  —  and  I  have 
chosen  a  person  for  my  wife  who  possesses  in  a 
high  degree  those  virtues  and  excellent  traits  of 
character,  which  so  distinguished  my  dear  Mary. 
Think  not,  that  in  this  new  engagement,  I  do  any 
wrong  to  her  memory.  I  still  retain,  and  ever 
shall  preserve  with  sacred  care  all  my  cherished 
recollections  of  her  truth,  affection  and  beautiful 
nature.  And  I  feel,  that  could  she  speak  to  me, 
she  would  approve  of  what  I  am  doing.  I  hope 
also  for  your  approval  and  for  your  father's.  .  .  . 
Think  of  me  ever  as 

Very  truly  your  friend 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW.1 

i  MS. 


SECOND    MARRIAGE  173 

The  lady  thus  described  was  one  who  lives  in 
the  memory  of  all  who  knew  her,  were  it  only  by 
her  distinguished  appearance  and  bearing,  her 
"  deep,  unutterable  eyes,"  in  Longfellow's  own 
phrase,  and  her  quiet,  self-controlled  face  illu- 
mined by  a  radiant  smile.  She  was  never  bet- 
ter described,  perhaps,  than  by  the  Hungarian, 
Madame  Pulszky,  who  visited  America  with 
Kossuth,  and  who  wrote  of  her  as  "  a  lady  of 
Junonian  beauty  and  of  the  kindest  heart."1 
Promptly  and  almost  insensibly  she  identified 
herself  with  all  her  husband's  work,  a  thing 
rendered  peculiarly  valuable  from  the  fact  that 
his  eyes  had  become  overstrained,  so  that  he 
welcomed  an  amanuensis.  Sometimes  she  sug- 
gested subjects  for  poems,  this  being  at  least 
the  case  with  "  The  Arsenal  at  Springfield," 
first  proposed  by  her  within  the  very  walls  of  the 
building,  a  spot  whose  moral  was  doubtless  en- 
hanced by  the  companionship  of  Charles  Sum- 
ner,  just  then  the  especial  prophet  of  interna- 
tional peace.  She  also  aided  him  effectually  in 
his  next  book,  "  The  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Eu- 
rope," in  which  his  friend  Felton  also  cooper- 
ated, he  preparing  the  biographical  notices  while 
Longfellow  made  the  selections  and  also  some  of 
the  translations. 

I  add  this  letter  from  his  betrothed,  which 
1  White,  Red,  and  Black,  ii.  237. 


174     HENRY  WADS  WORTH  LONGFELLOW 

strikes  the  reader  as  singularly  winning  and 
womanly.  This  also  is  addressed  to  the  elder 
sister  of  the  first  Mrs.  Longfellow. 

BOSTON,  June  5,  1843. 

DEAR  Miss  POTTER,  —  Accept  my  warmest 
thanks  for  the  very  kind  manner  in  which  you 
have  expressed  an  interest  in  our  happiness.  It 
is  all  the  more  welcome  in  coming  from  a  stranger 
upon  whom  I  have  no  past  claim  to  kindle  a 
kindly  regard,  and  touches  my  heart  deeply. 
Among  the  many  blessings  which  the  new  world 
I  have  entered  reveals  to  me,  a  new  heritage 
of  friends  is  a  choice  one.  Those  most  dear 
to  Henry,  most  closely  linked  with  his  early 
associations,  I  am,  naturally,  most  anxious  to 
know  and  love,  —  and  I  trust  an  opportunity 
will  bring  us  together  before  long. 

But  I  should  feel  no  little  timidity  in  being 
known  to  you  and  his  family ;  a  dread  that  lov- 
ing him  as  you  do  I  might  not  fulfil  all  the 
exactions  of  your  hearts  ;  were  not  such  fears 
relieved  by  the  generous  determination  you  have 
shown  to  approve  his  choice,  —  upon  faith  in 
him.  To  one  who  has  known  him  so  long  and 
so  well,  I  need  not  attempt  to  speak  of  my  hap- 
piness in  possessing  such  a  heart,  —  nor  of  my 
infinite  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  every  good  gift 
for  bestowing  upon  me  the  power  of  rendering 


SECOND    MARRIAGE  175 

him  once  more  happy  in  the  hope  of  a  home,  — 
so  sacred  and  dear  to  his  loving  nature  by  blessed 
memories  to  which  I  fervently  pray  to  be  found 
worthy  to  succeed. 

Eeceive  again  my  thanks  for  your  kind  sym- 
pathy, with  the  assurance  of  my  warm  regards, 
—  which  I  trust  will  not  always  be  imprisoned  in 
words,  and  with  kindest  remembrances  to  my 
other  Portland  friends, 

I  remain  sincerely  and  gratefully  yrs 

FANNY  E.  APPLETON. 

Henry  sends  his  most  affectionate  regards  and 
hopes,  tho'  faintly,  to  be  soon  able  to  visit  his 
home,  and  talk  over  his  future  with  you  all.1 

It  is  pleasant  to  record  in  connection  with  this 
sweet  and  high-minded  letter,  that  a  copy  of 
"  Hyperion  "  itself  lies  before  me  which  is  in- 
scribed on  the  first  page  in  pencil  to  "  Miss 
Eliza  A.  Potter,  from  her  affectionate  friend 
and  brother,  the  Author."  That  he  preserved 
through  life  a  warm  friendliness  toward  all  the 
kindred  of  his  first  wife  is  quite  certain. 

i  MS. 


CHAPTER  XV 

ACADEMIC   LIFE   IN   CAMBRIDGE 

THERE  exists  abundant  evidence,  to  which  the 
present  writer  can  add  personal  testimony,  in 
regard  to  Longfellow's  success  as  an  organizer 
of  his  immediate  department  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity and  in  dealing  with  his  especial  classes. 
He  was  assigned,  for  some  reason,  a  room  in 
University  Hall  which  was  also  employed  for 
faculty  meetings,  and  was  therefore  a  little 
less  dreary  than  the  ordinary  class-room  of  those 
days.  It  seemed  most  appropriate  that  an  in- 
structor of  Longfellow's  well-bred  aspect  and 
ever-courteous  manners  should  simply  sit  at  the 
head  of  the  table  with  his  scholars,  as  if  they 
were  guests,  instead  of  putting  between  him  and 
them  the  restrictive  demarcation  of  a  teacher's 
desk.  We  read  with  him,  I  remember,  first  the 
little  book  he  edited,  "  Proverbes  Dramatiques," 
and  afterwards  something  of  Racine  and  Mo- 
liere,  in  which  his  faculty  of  finding  equivalent 
phrases  was  an  admirable  example  for  us.  When 
afterwards,  during  an  abortive  rebellion  in  the 
college  yard,  the  students  who  had  refused  to 


ACADEMIC  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     177 

listen  to  others  yielded  to  the  demand  of  their 
ringleader,  "  Let  us  hear  Professor  Longfellow ; 
he  always  treats  us  like  gentlemen,"  the  youth- 
ful rebel  unconsciously  recognized  a  step  for- 
ward in  academical  discipline.  Longfellow  did 
not  cultivate  us  much  personally,  or  ask  us  to 
his  house,  but  he  remembered  us  and  acknow- 
ledged our  salutations.  He  was,  I  think,  the 
first  Harvard  instructor  who  addressed  the  in- 
dividual student  with  the  prefix  "  Mr."  I  recall 
the  clearness  of  his  questions,  the  simplicity  of 
his  explanations,  the  well-bred  and  skilful  pro- 
priety with  which  he  led  us  past  certain  indis- 
creet phrases  in  our  French  authors,  as  for  in- 
stance in  Balzac's  "  Peau  de  Chagrin."  Most 
of  all  comes  back  to  memory  the  sense  of  tri- 
umph with  which  we  saw  the  proof-sheets  of 
"  Voices  of  the  Night  "  brought  in  by  the  prin- 
ter's devil  and  laid  at  his  elbow.  We  felt  that 
we  also  had  lived  in  literary  society,  little  dream- 
ing, in  our  youthful  innocence,  how  large  a  part 
of  such  society  would  prove  far  below  the  stan- 
dard of  courtesy  that  prevailed  in  Professor 
Longfellow's  recitation  room. 

Yet  the  work  of  this  room  was,  in  those  days 
of  dawning  changes,  but  a  small  part  of  the 
function  of  a  professor.  Longfellow  was,  both 
by  inclination  and  circumstances,  committed  to 
the  reform  initiated  by  his  predecessor,  George 


178     HENRY  WADS  WORTH  LONGFELLOW 

Ticknor.  He  had  inherited  from  this  predeces- 
sor a  sort  of  pioneership  in  position  relative  to 
the  elective  system  just  on  trial  as  an  experi- 
ment in  college.  There  exists  an  impression  in 
some  quarters  that  this  system  came  in  for  the 
first  time  under  President  Walker  about  1853 ; 
but  it  had  been,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  tried  much 
earlier,  —  twenty  years,  at  least,  —  in  the  Mod- 
ern Language  Department  under  Ticknor,  and 
had  been  extended  much  more  widely  in  1839  un- 
der President  Quincy.  The  facts  are  well  known 
to  me,  as  I  was  in  college  at  that  period  and  en- 
joyed the  beneficent  effects  of  the  change,  since 
it  placed  the  whole  college,  in  some  degree,  for  a 
time  at  least,  on  a  university  basis.  The  change 
took  the  form,  first,  of  a  discontinuance  of  math- 
ematics as  a  required  study  after  the  first  year, 
and  then  the  wider  application  of  the  elective 
system  in  history,  natural  history,  and  the  clas- 
sics, this  greater  liberty  being  enjoyed,  though 
with  some  reaction,  under  President  Everett, 
and  practically  abolished  about  1849  under  Pres- 
ident Sparks,  when  what  may  be  called  the  High 
School  system  was  temporarily  restored.  An 
illustration  of  this  reactionary  tendency  may  be 
found  in  a  letter  addressed  by  Longfellow  to  the 
President  and  Fellows,  placing  him  distinctly  on 
the  side  of  freedom  of  choice.  The  circumstances 
are  these:  Students  had  for  some  time  been 


ACADEMIC   LIFE   IN    CAMBRIDGE     179 

permitted  to  take  more  than  one  modern  lan- 
guage among  the  electives,  and  I  myself,  before 
receiving  my  degree  of  A.  B.  in  1841,  had  stud- 
ied two  such  languages  simultaneously  for  three 
years  of  college  course.  It  appears,  however, 
from  the  following  letter,  that  this  privilege  had 
already  been  reduced  to  one  such  language,  and 
that  Longfellow  was  at  once  found  remonstrat- 
ing against  it,  though  at  first  ineffectually. 

CAMBRIDGE,  June  24, 1845. 

GENTLEMEN,  —  In  arranging  the  studies  for 
the  next  year,  the  Faculty  have  voted,  as  will 
be  seen  from  the  enclosed  Tabular  view,  that 
"  tfo  student  will  be  allowed  to  take  more  than 
one  Modern  Language  at  a  time,  except  for  spe- 
cial reasons  assigned,  &  by  express  vote  of  the 
Faculty." 

You  will  see  that  this  is  the  only  Department 
upon  which  any  bar  or  prohibition  is  laid.  And 
when  the  decision  was  made,  the  Latin  &  Greek 
Departments  were  allowed  two  votes  each,  & 
the  Department  of  Modern  Languages  but  one 
vote. 

As  I  foresaw  at  the  time,  this  arrangement 
has  proved  very  disadvantageous  to  the  Depart- 
ment, &  has  reduced  the  number  of  pupils,  at 
once,  more  than  one  half.  During  this  year  the 
whole  number  of  students  in  the  Department 


180     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

has  been  224.  The  applications  for  the  next 
term  do  not  amount  to  100 ;  nor,  when  all  have 
been  received,  can  it  reach  110.  I  therefore, 
Gentlemen,  appeal  to  you,  for  your  interference 
in  this  matter,  requesting  that  the  restriction 
may  be  removed,  &  this  Department  put  upon 
the  footing  of  the  others  in  this  particular. 
Otherwise,  I  fear  that  as  at  present  organized, 
it  cannot  exist  another  year. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Gentlemen,  your  ob'd*  servant 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW.* 

[Addressed  externally  to  the  President  and 
Fellows  of  Harvard  College.] 

[REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE.] 

CORPORATION  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE,  July  26, 1845. 
The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the 
Memorial  of  Professor  Longfellow  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  arrangement  of  the  studies  of  the 
undergraduates  by  the  faculty  of  the  College,  & 
desiring  that  the  restriction  as  to  the  number  of 
modern  languages  that  may  be  studied  at  once 
should  be  removed,  have  attended  to  the  subject, 
&  ask  leave  to  report,  that  they  have,  in  common 
with  the  other  members  of  the  Corporation 
already  considered  the  general  subject  of  the 
1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  2d  ser.  xiii.  363. 


ACADEMIC  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     181 

arrangement  of  the  studies  of  the  undergradu- 
ates, with  especial  reference  to  the  recommenda- 
tions of  the  board  of  overseers ;  &  that  they 
were  convinced  by  the  examination  of  the  de- 
tails they  made  at  that  time  that  the  business  of 
ordering  the  times  &  the  amount  of  study  & 
recitation  for  the  young  men  at  Cambridge  is 
not  only  a  very  complicated  &  difficult  affair, 
but  one  which  is  in  the  hands  of  those  best 
qualified,  &  considering  all  their  relations,  most 
truly  interested  to  lead  the  students  to  give  as 
much  labor  as  is  safe  for  them  to  the  studies 
suitable  to  College  years,  &  to  distribute  it  in 
such  manner  as  shall  be  most  just  &  effective. 
The  committee  would  not  feel  themselves  au- 
thorized to  change  one  part  of  a  system,  all  the 
parts  of  which  are  intricately  dependent  upon 
each  other,  without  they  felt  a  confidence  they  do 
not  possess  that  they  could  recommend  one  which 
should  work  better  as  a  whole.  They  therefore 
must  decline,  so  far  as  depends  upon  them, 
adopting  a  measure  the  ulterior  effects  of  which 
they  may  not  foresee  with  accuracy,  &  they 
express  the  belief  that  it  will  be  well  to  allow 
the  present  arrangement  to  continue  for  a  time, 
even  at  the  risk,  apprehended  by  ProfF  Long- 
fellow, of  its  producing  an  injurious  effect  upon 
his  department.  They  cannot  but  hope,  how- 
ever, that  the  evils  he  fears  may  be  avoided,  or 


182     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

if  not,  that  they  may  be  compensated  by  equiva- 
lent advantages. 

SAM^  A.  ELIOT  )  n        .„    , 
T  >  Uommittee1 

J.  A.  LOWELL   ) 

A  year  later  than  the  above  correspondence, 
the  subject  was  evidently  revived  on  the  part 
of  the  governing  powers  of  the  College,  and  we 
find  the  following  letter  from  Professor  Long- 
fellow :  — 

CAMBRIDGE,  Sept.  25,  1846. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  In  answer  to  your  favor  of  the 
18th  inst.  requesting  my  opinion  on  certain 
points  connected  with  the  Studies  of  the  Uni- 
versity, I  beg  lea\&e  to  state ; 

I.  In  regard  to  the  "  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages of  the  Elective  System."     In  my  own 
department  I  have  always  been  strongly  in  favor 
of  this  system.     I  have  always  thought  that  the 
modern  languages  should  be  among  the  volun- 
tary or  elective  studies  and  form  no  part  of  the 
required  Academic  course.     As  to  the  Latin  and 
Greek.    I  have  many  doubts  ;  but  incline  rather 
to  the  old  system,  particularly  if  the  fifth  class 
can  be  added  to  the  present  course ;  for  we  could 
then  secure  the  advantages  of  both  systems. 

II.  The   class    examinations   in   my   depart- 
ment are  very  slight  and  unsatisfactory.     They 
serve  however  as  a  kind  of  Annual  Report  of 

1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  2d  ser.  xiii.  13. 


ACADEMIC  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     183 

what  has  been  done  in  the  department ;  and  as 
there  is  nothing  depending  upon  them,  it  does 
not  seem  to  me  a  matter  of  very  urgent  necessity 
to  have  them  rendered  more  thorough. 

III.  "  The  Fifth  class   or  New  Department 
in  the  University  "  seems  to  me  of  the  greatest 
importance,  as  it  would  enable  us  to  carry  for- 
ward  the   studies   of    each    department   much 
farther  than  at  present,  by  means  of  Lectures, 
for  which  there  is  now  hardly  sufficient  oppor- 
tunity.    Last  year  there  were  fifteen  Resident 
Graduates.     Why  should  not  these  have  formed 
the  Fifth  Class? 

IV.  In  regard  to  the  "practical  working  of 
any  other  of  the  changes  made  in  our  system 
during  the   last   twenty  years,"  I  can   hardly 
claim  any  distinct  views.     Many,  perhaps  most 
of  them  were  made  before  I  came  to  the  Uni- 
versity ;  so  that  I  hardly  know  what  is  old  and 
what  is  new. 

I  have  made  but  a  brief  statement  in  answer 
to  your  enquiries,  partly  because  writing  is  a 
painful   process  with   me,  and   partly  because 
many  things  here  touched  upon  can  be  more 
clearly  explained  vive  voce  than  with  the  pen. 
I  remain,  with  great  regard 
Faithfully  Yours 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW.* 

1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MSS.],  2dser.  xiv.  61. 


184     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  more  than  half  a 
century  later,  at  a  meeting  of  the  American  Mod- 
ern Language  Association,  held  at  the  very  insti- 
tution where  this  correspondence  took  place,  it 
was  President  Charles  William  Eliot,  son  of  the 
author  of  the  letter  just  quoted,  who  recognized 
the  immense  advance  made  in  this  particular 
department  as  one  of  the  most  important  steps 
in  the  progress  of  the  University.  His  remarks 
were  thus  reported  in  the  Boston  "  Herald  "  of 
December  27,  1901 :  — 

"  When  the  meeting  opened  yesterday  after- 
noon President  Eliot  was  present  and  graciously 
said  a  few  words  of  welcome.  He  said  that  he 
knew  of  no  body  of  modern  learned  men  whom 
lie  would  be  so  glad  to  welcome  as  the  profes- 
sors of  language. 

" '  Here  at  Harvard,'  he  said,  '  we  have  been 
pressing  forward  for  many  years  toward  the  same 
object  you  have  in  view.  I  congratulate  you 
upon  the  great  progress  made  in  the  last  thirty 
years.  One  of  the  most  striking  features  of 
American  education  has  been  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  the  study  of  languages.  Tt  has  been 
more  rapid  at  some  of  the  other  colleges  than 
at  Harvard.  They  started  at  nothing  a  shorter 
time  ago.  [Laughter.] 

"'You  are  to  be  congratulated  upon  the 
cohesion  which  exists  among  learned  men  in 


ACADEMIC  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     185 

dealing  with  this  important  subject.  The  study 
of  modern  languages  is  beginning  to  connect 
itself  with  the  life  of  the  nation.  It  now  bears 
a  real  connection  to  national  life  and  interest. 
No  great  subject  in  educational  thought  ever 
obtained  a  firm  hold  that  had  not  some  modern 
connection  with  the  day.  I  do  not  overlook  the 
literary  element  in  the  study  of  modern  lan- 
guages, but  you  will  have  a  stronger  hold  for 
the  next  twenty  years  than  you  have  in  the  past, 
owing  to  this  use  of  modern  languages  in  daily 
life,  incident  to  the  industrial  and  commercial 
activity  of  the  country.'  " 

It  is  always  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  Long- 
fellow's self-restrained  and  well-ordered  tempera- 
ment habitually  checked  him  in  the  career  of 
innovator.  Both  in  public  and  private  matters, 
it  was  his  way  to  state  his  point  of  view  and  then 
await  results.  It  is  clear  that  his  mental  habit, 
his  foreign  experience,  and  the  traditions  of  his 
immediate  department  predisposed  him  to  favor 
the  elective  system  in  university  training.  This 
system,  after  temporary  trial  and  abandonment, 
was  now  being  brought  forward  once  more  and 
was  destined  this  time  to  prevail.  Towards  this 
success,  the  prosperity  of  the  Modern  Language 
Department  formed  a  perpetual  argument,  be- 
cause it  was  there  that  the  reform  was  first  in- 
troduced. The  records  of  the  Faculty  at  that 


186     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

period  give  very  little  information  as  to  the 
attitude  of  individual  professors,  and  Longfellow 
may  be  viewed  as  having  been  for  the  most  part 
a  silent  reformer.  One  finds,  however,  constant 
evidence  in  his  diaries  of  the  fact  that  his  duties 
wore  upon  him.  "  I  get  very  tired  of  the  rou- 
tine of  this  life."  "  This  college  work  is  like  a 
great  hand  laid  on  all  the  strings  of  my  lyre, 
stopping  their  vibrations."  "  How  the  days 
resemble  each  other  and  how  sad  it  is  to  me  that 
I  cannot  give  them  all  to  my  poem."  "  I  have 
fallen  into  a  very  unpoetic  mood  and  cannot 
write."  It  must  be  remembered  that  his  eyes 
were  at  this  time  very  weak,  that  he  suffered 
extremely  from  neuralgia,  and  that  these  entries 
were  all  made  during  the  great  fugitive  slave  ex- 
citement which  agitated  New  England,  and  the 
political  overturn  in  Massachusetts  which  culmi- 
nated in  the  election  of  the  poet's  most  intimate 
friend,  Sumner,  to  the  United  States  Senate. 
He  records  the  occurrence  of  his  forty-fourth 
birthday,  and  soon  after  when  he  is  stereotyping 
the  "  Golden  Legend  "  he  says  :  "  I  still  work  a 
good  deal  upon  it,"  but  also  writes,  only  two 
days  after,  "  Working  hard  with  college  classes 
to  have  them  ready  for  their  examinations."  A 
fortnight  later  he  says :  "  Examination  in  my 
department;  always  to  me  a  day  of  anguish 
and  exhaustion."  His  correspondence  is  very 


ACADEMIC  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     187 

large ;  visitors  and  dinner  parties  constantly  in- 
crease. His  mother  dies  suddenly,  and  he  sits 
all  night  alone  by  her  dead  body ;  a  sense  of 
peace  comes  over  him,  as  if  there  had  been  no 
shock  or  jar  in  nature,  but  a  "  harmonious  close 
to  a  long  life."  Later  he  gets  tired  of  summer 
rest  at  Nahant,  which  he  calls  "  building  up  life 
with  solid  blocks  of  idleness ; "  but  when  two 
days  later  he  goes  back  to  Cambridge  to  resume 
his  duties,  he  records  :  "  I  felt  my  neck  bow  and 
the  pressure  of  the  yoke."  Soon  after  he  says : 
"  I  find  no  time  to  write.  I  find  more  and  more 
the  little  things  of  life  shut  out  the  great.  In- 
numerable interruptions  —  letters  of  application 
for  this  and  for  that ;  endless  importunities  of 
foreigners  for  help  here  and  help  there  —  fret  the 
day  and  consume  it."  He  often  records  having 
half  a  dozen  men  to  dine  with  him ;  he  goes  to 
the  theatre,  to  lectures,  concerts,  and  balls,  has  no 
repose,  and  perhaps,  as  we  have  seen  at  Nahant, 
would  not  really  enjoy  it.  It  was  under  these 
conditions,  however,  that  the  "  Golden  Legend  " 
came  into  the  world  in  November,  1851 ;  and 
it  was  not  until  September  12,  1854,  that  its 
author  was  finally  separated  from  the  Univer- 
sity. He  was  before  that  date  happily  at  work 
on  "Hiawatha." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

LITERAKY   LIFE   IN   CAMBRIDGE 

LET  us  now  return  from  the  history  of  Long- 
fellow's academic  life  to  his  normal  pursuit,  lit- 
erature. It  seemed  a  curious  transition  from 
the  real  and  genuine  sympathy  for  human  wrong, 
as  shown  in  the  "  Poems  on  Slavery,"  to  the 
purely  literary  and  historic  quality  of  the  "  Span- 
ish Student "  (1843),  a  play  never  quite  dramatic 
enough  to  be  put  on  the  stage,  at  least  in  Eng- 
lish, though  a  German  version  was  performed 
at  the  Ducal  Court  Theatre  in  Dessau,  January 
28,  1855.  As  literary  work  it  was  certainly 
well  done ;  though  taken  in  part  from  the  tale  of 
Cervantes  "  La  Gitanilla,"  and  handled  before 
by  Montalvan  and  by  Solis  in  Spanish,  and  by 
Middleton  in  English,  it  yet  was  essentially 
Longfellow's  own  in  treatment,  though  perhaps 
rather  marred  by  taking  inappropriately  the 
motto  from  Robert  Burns.  He  wrote  of  it  to 
Samuel  Ward  in  New  York,  December,  1840, 
calling  it  "  something  still  longer  which  as  yet 
no  eye  but  mine  has  seen  and  which  I  wish  to 
read  to  you  first."  He  then  adds,  "  At  present, 


LITERARY  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     189 

my  dear  friend,  my  soul  is  wrapped  up  in  poetry. 
The  scales  fell  from  my  eyes  suddenly,  and  I 
beheld  before  me  a  beautiful  landscape,  with 
figures,  which  I  have  transferred  to  paper  almost 
without  an  effort,  and  with  a  celerity  of  which  I 
did  not  think  myself  capable.  Since  my  return 
from  Portland  I  am  almost  afraid  to  look  at  it, 
for  fear  its  colors  should  have  faded  out.  And 
this  is  the  reason  why  I  do  not  describe  the  work 
to  you  more  particularly.  I  am  not  sure  it  is 
worth  it.  You  shall  yourself  see  and  judge  be- 
fore long."  He  thus  afterwards  describes  it  to 
his  father :  "  I  have  also  written  a  much  longer 
and  more  difficult  poem,  called  '  The  Spanish 
Student,'  —  a  drama  in  five  acts ;  on  the  success 
of  which  I  rely  with  some  self-complacency.  But 
this  is  a  great  secret,  and  must  not  go  beyond 
the  immediate  family  circle ;  as  I  do  not  intend 
to  publish  it  until  the  glow  of  composition  has 
passed  away,  and  I  can  look  upon  it  coolly  and 
critically.  I  will  tell  you  more  of  this  by  and 
by." 

Longfellow's  work  on  "  The  Poets  and  Poetry 
of  Europe  "  appeared  in  1845,  and  was  after- 
wards reprinted  with  a  supplement  in  1871. 
The  original  work  included  776  pages,1  the  sup- 
plement adding  340  more.  The  supplement  is 

1  Mistakenly  described  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Longfellow  as 
"nearly  four  hundred  pages."  Life, ii.  3. 


190     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

in  some  respects  better  edited  than  the  original, 
because  it  gives  the  names  of  the  translators,  and 
because  he  had  some  better  translators  to  draw 
upon,  especially  Kossetti.  It  can  be  said  fairly 
of  the  whole  book  that  it  is  intrinsically  one  of 
the  most  attractive  of  a  very  unattractive  class, 
a  book  of  which  the  compiler  justly  says  that,  in 
order  to  render  the  literary  history  of  the  various 
countries  complete,  "  an  author  of  no  great  note 
has  sometimes  been  admitted,  or  a  poem  which 
a  severer  taste  would  have  excluded."  "  The 
work  is  to  be  regarded,"  he  adds,  "  as  a  collec- 
tion, rather  than  as  a  selection,  and  in  judging 
any  author  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  the  trans- 
lations do  not  always  preserve  the  rhythm  and 
melody  of  the  original,  but  often  resemble  sol- 
diers moving  forward  when  the  music  has  ceased 
and  the  time  is  marked  only  by  the  tap  of  the 
drum."  It  includes,  in  all,  only  ten  languages, 
the  Celtic  and  Slavonic  being  excluded,  as  well 
as  the  Turkish  and  Romaic,  a  thing  which  would 
now  seem  strange.  But  the  editor's  frank  ex- 
planation of  the  fact,  where  he  says  "  with  these 
I  am  not  acquainted,"  disarms  criticism.  This 
explanation  implies  that  he  was  personally  ac- 
quainted with  the  six  Gothic  languages  of  North- 
ern Europe  —  Anglo-Saxon,  Icelandish,  Danish, 
Swedish,  German,  and  Dutch  —  and  the  four 
Latin  languages  of  the  South  of  Europe  — 


LITERARY  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     191 

French,  Italian,  Spanish,  and  Portuguese.  The 
mere  work  of  compiling  so  large  a  volume  in 
double  columns  of  these  ten  languages  was  some- 
thing formidable,  and  he  had  reason  to  be  grate- 
ful to  his  friend  Professor  Felton,  who,  being 
a  German  student,  as  well  as  a  Greek  scholar, 
compiled  for  him  all  the  biographical  notes  in 
the  book.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  selection 
is  as  good  as  the  case  permitted  or  as  the  plan 
of  the  book  allowed,  and  the  volume  has  always 
maintained  its  place  of  importance  in  libraries. 
Many  of  the  translations  were  made  expressly  for 
it,  especially  in  the  supplement;  among  these 
being  Platen's  "  Remorse,"  Reboul's  "  The  An- 
gel and  Child,"  and  Malherbe's  "  Consolation." 
It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Longfellow's  stan- 
dard of  translation  was  very  high  and  that  he 
always  maintained,  according  to  Mrs.  Fields,  that 
Americans,  French,  and  Germans  had  a  greater 
natural  gift  for  it  than  the  English  on  account 
of  the  greater  insularity  of  the  latter's  natures.1 
It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  he  sometimes  failed 
to  find  material  for  translation  where  others 
found  it,  as,  for  instance,  amid  the  endless  beauty 
of  the  Greek  Anthology,  which  he  called  "  the 
most  melancholy  of  books  with  an  odor  of  dead 
garlands  about  it.  Voices  from  the  grave,  cym- 
bals of  Bacchantes,  songs  of  love,  sighs,  groans, 

1  Life,  iii.  370. 


192     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

prayers,  —  all  mingled  together.     I  never  read 
a  book  that  made  me  sadder."  l 

His  fame  at  this  time  was  widely  established, 
yet  a  curious  indication  of  the  fact  that  he  did 
not  at  once  take  even  Cambridge  by  storm,  as  a 
poet,  is  in  a  letter  from  Professor  Andrews  Nor- 
ton, father  of  the  present  Professor  Charles  E. 
Norton,  to  the  Kev.  W.  H.  Furness  of  Philadel- 
phia. The  latter  had  apparently  applied  to  Mr. 
Norton  for  advice  as  to  a  desirable  list  of  Ameri- 
can authors  from  whom  to  make  some  literary 
selections,  perhaps  in  connection  with  an  annual 
then  edited  by  him  and  called  "  The  Diadem." 
Professor  Norton,  as  one  of  the  most  cultivated 
Americans,  might  naturally  be  asked  for  some 
such  counsel.  In  replying  he  sent  Mr.  Furness, 
under  date  of  January  7, 1845,  a  list  of  fifty-four 
eligible  authors,  among  whom  Emerson  stood 
last  but  one,  while  Longfellow  was  not  included 
at  all.  He  then  appended  a  supplementary  list 
of  twenty-four  minor  authors,  headed  by  Long- 
fellow.2 We  have  already  seen  Lowell,  from  a 
younger  point  of  view,  describing  Longfellow,  at 
about  this  time,  as  the  head  of  a  "  clique,"  and 
we  now  find  Andrews  Norton,  from  an  older 
point  of  view,  assigning  him  only  the  first  place 
among  authors  of  the  second  grade.  It  is  curious 

1  Life,  iii.  94. 

2  Correspondence  of  R.  W.  Griswold,  p.  162. 


LITERARY  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     193 

to  notice,  in  addition,  that  Hawthorne  stood  next 
to  Longfellow  in  this  subordinate  roll. 

Longfellow  published  two  volumes  of  poetic 
selections,  "  The  Waif  "  (1845)  and  "  The  Es- 
tray  "  (1846),  the  latter  title  being  originally 
planned  as  "  Estrays  in  the  Forest,"  and  he  re- 
cords a  visit  to  the  college  library,  in  apparent 
search  for  the  origin  of  the  phrase.  His  next 
volume  of  original  poems,  however,  was  "The 
Belfry  of  Bruges  and  Other  Poems,"  published 
December  23,  1845,  the  contents  having  already 
been  partly  printed  in  "  Graham's  Magazine," 
and  most  of  them  in  the  illustrated  edition  of  his 
poems  published  in  Philadelphia.  The  theme  of 
the  volume  appears  to  have  been  partly  suggested 
by  some  words  in  a  letter  to  Freiligrath  which 
seem  to  make  the  leading  poem,  together  with 
that  called  "Nuremberg,"  a  portion  of  that 
projected  series  of  travel-sketches  which  had 
haunted  Longfellow  ever  since  "  Outre-Mer." 
"  The  Norman  Baron  "  was  the  result  of  a  pas- 
sage from  Thierry,  sent  him  by  an  unknown  cor- 
respondent. One  poem  was  suggested  by  a 
passage  in  Andersen's  "  Story  of  my  Life,"  and 
one  was  written  at  Boppard  on  the  Rhine.  All 
the  rest  were  distinctly  American  in  character 
or  origin.  Another  poem,  "  To  the  Driving 
Cloud,"  the  chief  of  the  Omaha  Indians,  was  his 
first  effort  at  hexameters  and  prepared  the  way 


194     HENRY-  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

for  "  Evangeline."  His  translation  of  the  "  Chil- 
dren of  the  Lord's  Supper  "  had  also  served  by 
way  of  preparation ;  and  he  had  happened  upon 
a  specimen  in  "  Black  wood's  Magazine  "  of  the 
hexameter  translation  of  the  "  Iliad "  which 
had  impressed  him  very  much.  He  even  tried 
a  passage  of  "  Evangeline  "  rendered  into  Eng- 
lish pentameter  verse,  and  thus  satisfied  himself 
that  it  was  far  less  effective  for  his  purpose  than 
the  measure  finally  adopted. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  reading  public  at 
large  has  confirmed  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes  when  he  says,  "  Of  the  longer 
poems  of  our  chief  singer,  I  should  not  hesitate 
to  select  '  Evangeline '  as  the  masterpiece,  and 
I  think  the  general  verdict  of  opinion  would  con- 
firm my  choice.  .  .  .  From  the  first  line  of  the 
poem,  from  its  first  words,  we  read  as  we  would 
float  down  a  broad  and  placid  river,  murmuring 
softly  against  its  banks,  heaven  over  it,  and  the 
glory  of  the  unspoiled  wilderness  all  around." 
The  words  "  This  is  the  forest  primeval "  have 
become  as  familiar,  he  thinks,  as  the  "  Anna 
virumque  cano  "  which  opened  Virgil's  "^Eneid," 
and  he  elsewhere  calls  the  poem  "  the  tranquil 
current  of  these  brimming,  slow-moving,  soul- 
satisfying  lines."  The  subject  was  first  suggested 
to  Longfellow  by  Hawthorne,  who  had  heard  it 
from  his  friend,  the  Rev.  H.  L.  Conolly,  and  the 


LITERARY  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     195 

outline  of  it  will  be  found  in  "  The  American 
Note-Books "  of  Hawthorne,  who  disappointed 
Father  Conolly  by  not  using  it  himself.  It  was 
finished  on  Longfellow's  fortieth  birthday. 

It  was  a  striking  illustration  of  the  wide  pop- 
ularity of  "  Evangeline,"  that  even  the  proper 
names  introduced  under  guidance  of  his  rhythmi- 
cal ear  spread  to  other  countries  and  were  taken 
up  and  preserved  as  treasures  in  themselves. 
Sumner  writes  from  England  to  Longfellow  that 
the  Hon.  Mrs.  Norton,  herself  well  known  in 
literature,  had  read  "  Evangeline,"  not  once  only, 
but  twenty  times,  and  the  scene  on  Lake  Atch- 
afalaya,  where  the  two  lovers  pass  each  other 
unknowingly,  so  impressed  her  that  she  had  a 
seal  cut  with  the  name  upon  it.  Not  long  after 
this,  Leopold,  King  of  the  Belgiums,  repeated 
the  same  word  to  her  and  said  that  it  was  so  sug- 
gestive of  scenes  in  human  life  that  he  was  about 
to  have  it  cut  on  a  seal,  when  she  astonished  him 
by  showing  him  hers. 

The  best  review  of  "  Evangeline  "  ever  writ- 
ten was  probably  the  analysis  made  of  it  by  that 
accomplished  French  traveller  of  half  a  century 
ago,  Professor  Philarete  Chasles  of  the  College 
Le  France,  in  his  "  Etudes  sur  la  Litterature 
et  les  Moeurs  des  Anglo-Americains  du  XIX. 
Siecle,"  published  in  1851.  It  is  interesting  to 
read  it,  and  to  recognize  anew  what  has  often 


196     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

been  made  manifest  —  the  greater  acuteness  of 
the  French  mind  than  of  the  English,  when 
discussing  American  themes.  Writing  at  that 
early  period,  M.  Chasles  at  once  recognized, 
for  instance,  the  peculiar  quality  of  Emerson's 
genius.  He  describes  Longfellow,  in  compari- 
son, as  what  he  calls  a  moonlight  poet,  having 
little  passion,  but  a  calmness  of  attitude  which 
approaches  majesty,  and  moreover  a  deep  sensi- 
bility, making  itself  felt  under  a  subdued  rhythm. 
In  short,  his  is  a  slow  melody  and  a  reflective 
emotion,  both  these  being  well  suited  to  the 
sounds  and  shadows  of  our  endless  plains  and 
our  forests,  which  have  no  history.  He  is  espe- 
cially struck  with  the  resemblance  of  the  Amer- 
ican poet  to  the  Scandinavians,  such  as  Tegner 
and  Oehlenschlaeger.  He  notices  even  in  Long- 
fellow the  Norse  tendency  to  alliteration,  and  he 
quotes  one  of  the  Northern  poems  and  then  one 
of  Longfellow's  to  show  this  analogy.  It  is 
worth  while  to  put  these  side  by  side.  This  is 
from  Oehlenschlaeger :  — 

"  Tilg'vr  tvnngne 
Trae/  af  Efekov ! 
At  ban  dig  atter 
Asta&eld  findet."  .  .  .  etc. 

The  following  is  by  Longfellow :  — 

"  .Puller  of  fragrance,  than  they 
And  as  heavy  with  shadows  and  night-dews, 


LITERARY  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     197 

Hung  the  heart  of  the  maiden. 
The  calm  and  magical  moonlight 
deemed  to  inundate  her  soul." 

It  is  curious  to  notice  that  Chasles  makes  the 
same  criticism  on  "  Evangeline  "  that  Holmes 
made  on  Lowell's  "Vision  of  Sir  Launfal;" 
namely,  that  there  is  in  it  a  mixture  of  the  arti- 
ficial and  the  natural.  The  result  is,  we  may 
infer,  that  on  the  whole  one  still  thinks  of  it  as 
a  work  of  art  and  does  not  —  as,  for  instance, 
with  Tolstoi's  "  Cossacks  "  —  think  of  all  the 
characters  as  if  they  lived  in  the  very  next 
street.  Yet  it  is  in  its  way  so  charming,  he 
finds  that  although  as  he  says,  "There  is  no 
passion  in  it,"  still  there  is  a  perpetual  air  of 
youth  and  innocence  and  tenderness.  M.  Chasles 
is  also  impressed  as  a  Catholic  with  the  poet's 
wide  and  liberal  comprehension  of  the  Christian 
ideas.  It  is  not,  he  thinks,  a  masterpiece  (7Z 
y  a  loin  d* Evangeline  a  un  chef-d'oeuvre),  but 
he  points  out,  what  time  has  so  far  vindicated, 
that  it  has  qualities  which  guarantee  to  it  some- 
thing like  immortality.  When  we  consider  that 
Chasles  wrote  at  a  time  when  all  our  more  sub- 
stantial literature  seemed  to  him  to  consist  of 
uninteresting  state  histories  and  extensive  col- 
lections of  the  correspondence  of  American 
presidents  —  a  time  when  he  could  write  sadly : 
"  All  America  does  not  yet  possess  a  humorist " 


198     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

(Toute  VAmerique  ne  possede  pas  un  humo 
riste),  one  can  place  it  to  the  credit  of  Longfel- 
low that  he  had  already  won  for  himself  some 
sort  of  literary  standing  in  the  presence  of  one 
Frenchman.  At  the  time  of  this  complaint,  it  may 
be  noticed  that  Mr.  S.  L.  Clemens  was  a  boy  of 
fifteen.  The  usual  European  criticism  at  the 
present  day  is  not  that  America  produces  so  few 
humorists,  but  that  she  brings  forth  so  many. 

The  work  which  came  next  from  Longfellow's 
pen  has  that  peculiar  value  to  a  biographer 
which  comes  from  a  distinct,  unequivocal,  low- 
water  mark  in  the  intellectual  product  with 
which  he  has  to  deal.  This  book,  "  Kavanagh," 
had  the  curious  fate  of  bringing  great  disap- 
pointment to  most  of  his  friends  and  admirers, 
and  yet  of  being  praised  by  the  two  among  his 
contemporaries  personally  most  successful  in  fic- 
tion, Hawthorne  and  Ho  wells.  Now  that  the 
New  England  village  life  has  proved  such  rich 
material  in  the  hands  of  Mary  Wilkins,  Sarah 
Jewett,  and  Rowland  Robinson,  it  is  difficult 
to  revert  to  "  Kavanagh  "  (1849)  without  feel- 
ing that  it  is  from  beginning  to  end  a  piece 
of  purely  academic  literature  without  a  type  of 
character,  or  an  incident  —  one  might  almost 
say  without  a  single  phrase  —  that  gives  quite 
the  flavor  of  real  life.  Neither  the  joys  nor  the 
griefs  really  reach  the  reader's  heart  for  one 


LITERARY  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     199 

moment.  All  the  characters  use  essentially  the 
same  dialect,  and  every  sentence  is  duly  sup- 
plied with  its  anecdote  or  illustration,  each  one 
of  which  is  essentially  bookish  at  last.  It  has 
been  well  said  of  it  that  it  is  an  attempt  to  look 
at  rural  society  as  Jean  Paul  would  have  looked 
at  it.  Indeed,  we  find  Longfellow  reading  aloud 
from  the  "  Campaner  Thai "  while  actually  at 
work  on  "  Kavanagh,"  and  he  calls  the  latter  in 
his  diary  "  a  romance." J  When  we  consider 
how  remote  Jean  Paul  seems  from  the  present 
daily  life  of  Germany,  one  feels  the  utter  inap- 
propriateness  of  his  transplantation  to  New  Eng- 
land. Yet  Emerson  read  the  book  "  with  great 
contentment,"  and  pronounced  it  "the  best  sketch 
we  have  seen  in  the  direction  of  the  American 
novel,"  and  discloses  at  the  end  the  real  charm 
he  found  or  fancied  by  attributing  to  it  "  ele- 
gance." Hawthorne,  warm  with  early  friend- 
ship, pronounces  it  "a  most  precious  and  rare 
book,  as  fragrant  as  a  bunch  of  flowers  and  as 
simple  as  one  flower.  .  .  .  Nobody  but  yourself 
would  dare  to  write  so  quiet  a  book,  nor  could 
any  other  succeed  in  it.  It  is  entirely  original, 
a  book  by  itself,  a  true  work  of  genius,  if  ever 
there  was  one."  Nothing,  I  think,  so  well  shows 
us  the  true  limitations  of  American  literature 
at  that  period  as  these  curious  phrases.  It  is 

1  Life,  ii.  81. 


200     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

fair  also  to  recognize  that  Mr.  W.  D.  Howells, 
writing  nearly  twenty  years  later,  says  with 
almost  equal  exuberance,  speaking  of  "  Kava- 
nagh,"  "  It  seems  to  us  as  yet  quite  unapproached 
by  the  multitude  of  New  England  romances  that 
have  followed  it  in  a  certain  delicate  truthful- 
ness, as  it  is  likely  to  remain  unsurpassed  in  its 
light  humor  and  pensive  grace."  1 

The  period  following  the  publication  of 
"Evangeline"  seemed  a  more  indeterminate 
and  unsettled  time  than  was  usual  with  Long- 
fellow. He  began  a  dramatic  romance  of  the 
age  of  Louis  XIV.,  but  did  not  persist  in  it, 
and  apart  from  the  story  of  "  Kavanagh  "  did 
no  extended  work.  He  continued  to  publish 
scattered  poems,  and  in  two  years  (1850)  there 
appeared  another  volume  called  "  The  Seaside 
and  the  Fireside  "  in  which  the  longest  contribu- 
tion and  the  most  finished  —  perhaps  the  most 
complete  and  artistic  which  he  ever  wrote  —  was 
called  "  The  Building  of  the  Ship."  To  those 
who  remember  the  unequalled  voice  and  drama- 
tic power  of  Mrs.  Kemble,  it  is  easy  to  imagine 
the  enthusiasm  with  which  her  reading  of  this 
poem  was  received  by  an  audience  of  three  thou- 
sand, and  none  the  less  because  at  that  troubled 
time  the  concluding  appeal  to  the  Union  had  a 
distinct  bearing  on  the  conflicts  of  the  time.  For 

1  North  American  Review,  civ.  534. 


LITERARY  LIFE  IN  CAMBRIDGE     201 

the  rest  of  the  volume,  it  included  the  strong 
and  lyric  verses  called  "  Seaweed,"  which  were 
at  the  time  criticised  by  many,  though  unreason- 
ably, as  rugged  and  boisterous  ;  another  poem  of 
dramatic  power,  "  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert ; "  and 
one  of  the  most  delicately  imaginative  and  musi- 
cal among  all  he  ever  wrote,  "  The  Fire  of  Drift- 
Wood,"  the  scene  of  which  was  the  Devereux 
Farm  at  Marblehead.  There  were  touching 
poems  of  the  fireside,  especially  that  entitled 
"  Resignation,"  written  in  1848  after  the  death 
of  his  little  daughter  Fanny,  and  "one  called 
"The  Open  Window."  Looking  back  from 
this,  his  fourth  volume  of  short  poems,  it  must 
be  owned  that  he  had  singularly  succeeded  in 
providing  against  any  diminution  of  power  or 
real  monotony.  Nevertheless  his  next  effort  was 
destined  to  be  on  a  wider  scale. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

RESIGNATION    OP    PROFESSORSHIP  —  TO    DEATH 
OF  MRS.   LONGFELLOW 

ON  the  last  day  of  1853,  Longfellow  wrote 
in  his  diary,  "  How  barren  of  all  poetic  pro- 
duction and  even  prose  production  this  last  year 
has  been  !  For  1853  I  have  absolutely  nothing 
to  show.  Really  there  has  been  nothing  but  the 
college  work.  The  family  absorbs  half  the  time, 
and  letters  and  visits  take  out  a  huge  cantle." 
Yet  four  days  later  he  wrote,  January  4,  1854, 
"  Another  day  absorbed  in  the  college.  But  why 
complain?  These  golden  days  are  driven  like 
nails  into  the  fabric.  Who  knows  but  they  help 
it  to  hold  fast  and  firm  ?  "  On  February  22,  he 
writes,  "  You  are  not  misinformed  about  my 
leaving  the  professorship.  I  am  '  pawing  to  get 
free.' "  On  his  birthday,  February  27,  he  writes, 
in  the  joy  of  approaching  freedom,  "  I  am  curious 
to  know  what  poetic  victories,  if  any,  will  be  won 
this  year."  On  April  19  he  writes,  "  At  eleven 
o'clock  in  No.  6  University  Hall,  I  delivered  my 
last  lecture  —  the  last  I  shall  ever  deliver,  here 


RESIGNATION  OF  PROFESSORSHIP     203 

or  anywhere."  l  The  following  are  the  letters 
explaining  this,  and  hitherto  unpublished,  but 
preserved  in  the  Harvard  College  archives. 

CAMBRIDGE,  February  16,  1854. 

GENTLEMEN,  —  In  pursuance  of  conversations 
held  with  D.r  Walker,  the  subject  of  which  he 
has  already  communicated  to  you,  —  I  now  beg 
leave  to  tender  you  my  resignation  of  the  "  Smith 
Professorship  of  the  French  and  Spanish  Lan- 
guages and  Literatures,"  which  I  have  held  in 
Harvard  College  since  the  year  1835. 

Should  it  be  in  your  power  to  appoint  my 
successor  before  the  beginning  of  the  next  Term, 
I  should  be  glad  to  retire  at  once.  But  if  this 
should  be  inconvenient,  I  will  discharge  the 
duties  of  the  office  until  the  end  of  the  present 
Academic  Year. 

I  venture  on  this  occasion,  Gentlemen,  to  call 
your  attention  to  the  subject  of  the  salaries  paid 
to  the  several  Instructors  in  this  Department, 
and  to  urge,  as  far  as  may  be  proper,  such  in- 
crease as  may  correspond  to  the  increased  ex- 
penses of  living  in  this  part  of  the  country  at 
the  present  time. 

With  sentiments  of  the  highest  regard,  and 
sincere  acknowledgments  of  your  constant  cour- 

1  Life,  ii.  262,  263,  265,  266,  268. 


204     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

tesy  and  kindness,  during  the  eighteen  years  of 
my  connection  with  the  College, 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Gentlemen, 
Your  Obt.  Servt. 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW.  l 

To  the  President  and  Corporation 
of  Harvard  University. 

X. 

[TO   PRESIDENT    WALKER.] 

CAMBRIDGE,  Feb.  16,  1854. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  inclose  you  my  note  to 
the  Corporation.  Will  you  be  kind  enough  to 
look  at  it,  before  handing  it  to  them ;  for  if  it  is 
not  in  proper  form  and  phrase,  I  will  write  it 
over  again. 

I  also  inclose  the  letters  of  Schele  de  Vere, 
and  remain, 

Very  faithfully  Yours 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW  2 
P.  S.     I  have  not  assigned   any  reasons  for 
my  resignation,  thinking  it  better  to   avoid  a 
repetition  of  details,  which  I  have  already  ex- 
plained to  you. 

[TO    THE     PRESIDENT     AND    FELLOWS    OF    HARVARD 
COLLEGE.] 

GENTLEMEN,  —  Having  last  Winter  signified 
to  you  my  intention  of  resigning  my  Professor- 

1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  2d  ser.  xx.  345. 

2  Ib.  347. 


RESIGNATION  OF  PROFESSORSHIP     205 

ship  at  the  close  of  the  present  College  year,  I 
now  beg  leave  to  tender  you  my  resignation 
more  formally  and  officially. 

It  is  eighteen  years  since  I  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  this  Professorship.  They  have  been 
to  me  pleasant  and  congenial;  and  I  hope  I 
have  discharged  them  to  your  satisfaction,  and 
to  the  advantage  of  the  College  in  whose  pros- 
perity I  shall  always  take  the  deepest  interest. 

In  dissolving  a  connection,  which  has  lasted 
so  long,  and  which  has  been  to  me  a  source  of 
so  much  pleasure  and  advantage,  permit  me  to 
express  to  you  my  grateful  thanks  for  the  con- 
fidence you  have  reposed  in  me,  and  the  many 
marks  of  kindness  and  consideration  which  I 
have  received  at  your  hands. 

With  best  wishes  for   the   College   and  for 
yourselves,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Gentlemen, 
Your  Obedient  Servant 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW 

Smith  Professor  of  French  and  Spanish)  and 
Professor  of  Belles  Lettres.\ 
CAMBRIDGE,  August  23,  1854. 

[TO    PRESIDENT   WALKER.] 

NAHANT,  Aug.  23,  1854. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  inclose  you  the  Letter  of 
resignation  we  were  speaking  of  yesterday.  I 

1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  2d  ser.  xxi.  249. 


206     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

have  made  it  short,  as  better  suited  to  College 
Records ;  and  have  said  nothing  of  the  regret, 
which  I  naturally  feel  on  leaving  you,  for  it 
hardly  seems  to  me  that  I  am  leaving  you ;  and 
little  of  my  grateful  acknowledgments  ;  for  these 
I  hope  always  to  show,  by  remaining  the  faith- 
ful friend  and  ally  of  the  College. 

I  beg  you  to  make  my  official  farewells  to  the 
members  of  the  Faculty  at  their  next  meeting, 
and  to  assure  them  all  and  each  of  my  regard 
and  friendship,  and  of  my  best  wishes  for  them 
in  all  things. 

With  sentiments  of  highest  esteem,  I  remain 
Dear  Sir, 

Yours  faithfully 

HENRY  W.  LONGFELLOW  l 

His  retirement  was  not  a  matter  of  ill  health, 
for  he  was  perfectly  well,  except  that  he  could 
not  use  his  eyes  by  candle-light.  But  friends 
and  guests  and  children  and  college  lectures  had 
more  and  more  filled  up  his  time,  so  that  he  had 
no  strength  for  poetry,  and  the  last  two  years 
had  been  very  unproductive.  There  was,  more- 
over, all  the  excitement  of  his  friend  Sumner's 
career,  and  of  the  fugitive  slave  cases  in  Boston, 
and  it  is  no  wonder  that  he  writes  in  his  diary, 
with  his  usual  guarded  moderation,  "  I  am  not, 

1  Harvard  College  Papers  [MS.],  2d  ser.  xxi.  249. 


RESIGNATION  OF  PROFESSORSHIP     207 

however,  very  sure  as  to  the  result."  Mean- 
while he  sat  for  his  portrait  by  Lawrence,  and 
the  subject  of  the  fugitive  slave  cases  brought 
to  the  poet's  face,  as  the  artist  testified,  a  look 
of  animation  and  indignation  which  he  was  glad 
to  catch  and  retain.  On  Commencement  Day, 
July  19,  1854,  he  wore  his  academical  robes  for 
the  last  time,  and  writes  of  that  event,  "  The 
whole  crowded  church  looked  ghostly  and  unreal 
as  a  thing  in  which  I  had  no  part."  He  had 
already  been  engaged  upon  his  version  of  Dante, 
having  taken  it  up  on  February  1, 1853,1  after  ten 
years'  interval ;  and  moreover  another  new  liter- 
ary project  had  occurred  to  him  "  purely  in  the 
realm  of  fancy,"  as  he  describes  it,  and  his  free- 
dom became  a  source  of  joy. 

He  had  been  anxious  for  some  years  to  carry 
out  his  early  plan  of  works  upon  American 
themes.  He  had,  as  will  be  remembered,  made 
himself  spokesman  for  the  Indians  on  the  col- 
lege platform.  His  list  of  proposed  subjects  had 
included  as  far  back  as  1829,  "Tales  of  the 
Quoddy  Indians,"  with  a  description  of  Sacobe- 
zon,  their  chief.  After  twenty-five  years  he 
wrote  in  his  diary  (June  22,  1854),  "  I  have  at 
length  hit  upon  a  plan  for  a  poem  on  the  Amer- 
ican Indians  which  seems  to  be  the  right  one 
and  the  only.  It  is  to  weave  together  their 

1  Life,  ii.  248. 


208     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

beautiful  traditions  into  a  whole.  I  have  hit 
upon  a  measure,  too,  which  I  think  the  right  one 
and  the  only  one  for  the  purpose."  He  had  to 
draw  for  this  delineation  not  merely  upon  the 
Indians  seen  in  books,  but  on  those  he  had  him- 
self observed  in  Maine,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  he 
had  watched  on  Boston  Common,  and  an  Ojib- 
way  chief  whom  he  had  entertained  at  his  house. 
As  for  the  poetic  measure,  a  suitable  one  had 
just  been  suggested  to  him  by  the  Finnish  epic 
of  "  Kalevala,"  which  he  had  been  reading ;  and 
he  had  been  delighted  by  its  appropriateness  to 
the  stage  character  to  be  dealt  with  and  the  type 
of  legend  to  be  treated.  "  Hiawatha  "  was  begun 
on  June  25,  1854,  and  published  on  November 
10  of  that  year.  He  enjoyed  the  work  thor- 
oughly, but  it  evidently  seemed  to  him  somewhat 
tame  before  he  got  through,  and  this  tendency 
to  tameness  was  sometimes  a  subject  of  criti- 
cism with  readers  ;  but  its  very  simplicity  made 
the  style  attractive  to  children  and  gave  a  charm 
which  it  is  likely  always  to  retain.  With  his 
usual  frankness,  he  stated  at  the  outset  that  the 
metre  was  not  original  with  him,  and  it  was  of 
course  a  merit  in  the  legends  that  they  were  not 
original.  The  book  received  every  form  of  at- 
tention ;  it  was  admired,  laughed  at,  parodied, 
set  to  music,  and  publicly  read,  and  his  fame 
unquestionably  rests  far  more  securely  on  this 


RESIGNATION  OF  PROFESSORSHIP     209 

and  other  strictly  American  poems  than  on  the 
prolonged  labor  of  the  "  Golden  Legend."  He 
himself  writes  that  some  of  the  newspapers  are 
"  fierce  and  furious  "  about  "  Hiawatha,"  and 
again  "  there  is  the  greatest  pother  over  '  Hia- 
watha.' ''  Freiligrath,  who  translated  the  poem 
into  German,  writes  him  from  London,  "  Are 
you  not  chuckling  over  the  war  which  is  waging 
in  the  4  Athena3tim  '  about  the  measure  from 
'  Hiawatha  '  ?  "  He  had  letters  of  hearty  ap- 
proval from  Emerson,  Hawthorne,  Parsons,  and 
Bayard  Taylor  ;  the  latter,  perhaps,  making  the 
best  single  encomium  on  the  book  in  writing  to  its 
author,  "  The  whole  poem  floats  in  an  atmosphere 
of  the  American  '  Indian  summer.'  "  The  best 
tribute  ever  paid  to  it,  however,  was  the  actual 
representation  of  it  as  a  drama  by  the  O  jib  way 
Indians  on  an  island  in  Lake  Huron,  in  August, 
1901,  in  honor  of  a  visit  to  the  tribe  by  some 
of  the  children  and  grandchildren  of  the  poet. 
This  posthumous  tribute  to  a  work 'of  genius  is 
in  itself  so  picturesque  and  interesting  and  has 
been  so  well  described  by  Miss  Alice  Longfellow, 
who  was  present,  that  I  have  obtained  her  con- 
sent to  reprint  it  in  the  Appendix  to  this  vol- 
ume. 

Longfellow's  next  poem  reverted  to  hexameters 
once  more,  inasmuch  as  "  Evangeline  "  had  thor- 
oughly outlived  the  early  criticisms  inspired  by 


210     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

this  meter.     The  theme  had  crossed  his  mind  in 

1856,  and  he  had  begun  to  treat  it  in  dramatic 
form  and  verse,  under  the  name  it  now  bears ; 
but  after  a  year's  delay  he  tried  it  again  under 
the  name  of  Priscilla,  taking  the  name,  possibly, 
from  an  attractive  English  Quakeress,  Priscilla 
Green,  whose  sweet  voice  had  charmed  him  in  a 
public  meeting,  "  breaking  now  and  then,"  as  he 
says,  "  into  a  kind  of  rhythmic  charm  in  which 
the  voice  seemed  floating  up  and  down  on  wings." 
It  has  been  thought  that  he  transferred  in  some 
degree  the  personality  of  this  worthy  woman  to 
the  heroine  of  his  story,  their  Christian  names  be- 
ing the  same  ;  but  he  afterwards  resumed  the  ori- 
ginal title,  "  The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish." 
He  wrote  it  with  great  ease  between  December, 

1857,  and  March,  1858,  and  perhaps  never  com- 
posed anything  with  a  lighter  touch  or  more  un- 
mingled  pleasure.     Twenty-five  thousand  copies 
were  sold  or  ordered  of  the  publishers  during 
the  first  week,  and  ten  thousand  in  London  on 
the  first  day.     In  both  theme  and  treatment  the 
story  was  thoroughly  to  his  liking,  and  vindicated 
yet  further  that  early  instinct  which  guided  him 
to  American  subjects.     Longfellow  was  himself 
descended,  it  will  be  remembered,  from  the  very 
marriage  he  described,  thus  guaranteeing  a  sym- 
pathetic treatment,  while  the  measure  is  a  shade 
crisper  and  more  elastic  than  that  of  "  Evange- 


RESIGNATION  OF  PROFESSORSHIP     211 

line,"  owing  largely  to  the  greater  use  of  trochees. 
It  is  almost  needless  to  say  that  no  such  effort  can 
ever  be  held  strictly  to  the  classic  rules,  owing 
to  the  difference  in  the  character  of  the  lan- 
guage. With  German  hexameters  the  analogy 
is  closer. 

On  July  10,  1861,  Mrs.  Longfellow  died  the 
tragic  death  which  has  been  so  often  described, 
from  injuries  received  by  fire  the  day  before. 
Never  was  there  a  greater  tragedy  within  a  house- 
hold ;  never  one  more  simply  and  nobly  borne. 
It  was  true  to  Lowell's  temperament  to  write 
frankly  his  sorrow  in  exquisite  verse  ;  but  it 
became  Longfellow's  habit,  more  and  more,  to 
withhold  his  profoundest  feelings  from  spoken 
or  written  utterance  ;  and  it  was  only  after  his 
death  that  his  portfolio,  being  opened,  revealed 
this  sonnet,  suggested  by  a  picture  of  the  west- 
ern mountain  whose  breast  bears  the  crossed 
furrows. 

THE  CROSS  OF  SNOW 

IN  the  long-,  sleepless  watches  of  the  night, 
A  gentle  face  —  the  face  of  one  long  dead  — 
Looks  at  me  from  the  wall,  where  round  its  head 
The  night-lamp  casts  a  halo  of  pale  light. 

Here  in  this  room  she  died  ;  and  soul  more  white 
Never  through  martyrdom  of  fire  was  led 
To  its  repose  ;  nor  can  in  books  be  read 
The  legend  of  a  life  more  benedight. 

There  is  a  mountain  in  the  distant  West 


212     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

That,  sun-defying,  in  its  deep  ravines 

Displays  a  cross  of  snow  upon  its  side. 

Such  is  the  cross  I  wear  upon  my  breast 

These  eighteen  years,  through  all  the  changing  scenes 
And  seasons,  changeless  since  the  day  she  died. 
July  10,  1879. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
BIRDS   OF   PASSAGE 

LONGFELLOW  had  always  a  ready  faculty  for 
grouping  his  shorter  poems  in  volumes,  and  had 
a  series  continuing  indefinitely  under  the  name 
of  "Birds  of  Passage,"  which  in  successive 
"  flights "  were  combined  with  longer  works. 
The  first  was  contained  in  the  volume  called 
"  The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish "  (1858)  ; 
the  second  in  "  Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn " 
(1863)  ;  flight  the  third  appeared  in  connection 
with  "  Aftermath  "  (1873)  ;  flight  the  fourth  in 
"  Masque  of  Pandora  and  Other  Poems  "  (1875), 
and  flight  the  fifth  in  "Kerainos  and  Other 
Poems  "  (1878).  These  short  poems  stand  re- 
presentative of  his  middle  life,  as  "Voices  of 
the  Night "  and  "  Ballads  "  did  for  the  earlier ; 
and  while  the  maturer  works  have  not,  as  a  whole, 
the  fervor  and  freshness  of  the  first,  they  have 
more  average  skill  of  execution. 

The  "  Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn  "  was  the  final 
grouping  of  several  stories  which  had  accumu- 
lated upon  him,  large  and  small,  and  finally  de- 
manded a  title-page  in  common.  Some  of  them 


214     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

had  been  published  before  and  were  grouped 
into  a  volume  in  1863,  which,  making  itself 
popular,  was  followed  by  two  more  volumes, 
finally  united  into  one.  We  have  what  is  not 
usually  the  case,  the  poet's  own  account  of  them, 
he  having  written  thus  to  a  correspondent  in  Eng- 
land :  "  '  The  Wayside  Inn  '  has  more  foundation 
in  fact  than  you  may  suppose.  The  town  of 
Sudbury  is  about  twenty  miles  from  Cambridge. 
Some  two  hundred  years  ago,  an  English  family 
by  the  name  of  Howe  built  there  a  country 
house,  which  has  remained  in  the  family  down 
to  the  present  time,  the  last  of  the  race  dying 
but  two  years  ago.  Losing  their  fortune,  they 
became  innkeepers ;  and  for  a  century  the  Red- 
Horse  Inn  has  flourished,  going  down  from 
father  to  son.  The  place  is  just  as  I  have  de- 
scribed it,  though  no  longer  an  inn.  All  this 
will  account  for  the  landlord's  coat-of-arms,  and 
his  being  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  his  being 
known  as  '  the  Squire,'  —  things  that  must 
sound  strange  in  English  ears.  All  the  charac- 
ters are  real.  The  musician  is  Ole  Bull;  the 
Spanish  Jew,  Israel  Edrehi,  whom  I  have  seen 
as  I  have  painted  him,"  etc.,  etc. 

Other  participants  in  the  imaginary  festivities 
are  the  late  Thomas  W.  Parsons,  the  translator  of 
Dante,  who  appears  as  the  poet ;  the  theologian 
being  Professor  Daniel  Treadwell  of  Harvard 


BIRDS  OF  PASSAGE  215 

University,  an  eminent  physicist,  reputed  in  his 
day  to  be  not  merely  a  free  thinker,  but  some- 
thing beyond  it ;  the  student  being  Henry  Ware 
Wales,  a  promising  scholar  and  lover  of  books, 
who  left  his  beautiful  library  to  the  Harvard 
College  collection ;  and  the  Sicilian  being  Luigi 
Monti,  who  had  been  an  instructor  in  Italian  at 
Harvard  under  Longfellow.  Several  of  this 
group  had  habitually  spent  their  summers  in 
the  actual  inn  which  Longfellow  described  and 
which  is  still  visible  at  Sudbury.  But  none  of 
the  participants  in  the  supposed  group  are  now 
living  except  Signor  Monti,  who  still  resides  in 
Rome,  as  for  many  years  back,  with  his  Amer- 
ican wife,  a  sister  of  the  poet  Parsons.  All  the 
members  of  the  group  were  well  known  in  Cam- 
bridge and  Boston,  especially  Ole  Bull,  who  was 
at  seventy  as  picturesque  in  presence  and  bear- 
ing as  any  youthful  troubadour,  and  whose 
American  wife,  an  active  and  courageous  philan- 
thropist, still  vibrates  between  America  and 
India,  and  is  more  or  less  allied  to  the  Long- 
fellow family  by  the  marriage  of  her  younger 
brother,  Mr.  J.  G.  Thorp,  to  the  poet's  youngest 
daughter.  The  volume  has  always  been  popu- 
lar, even  its  most  ample  form ;  yet  most  of  the 
individual  poems  are  rarely  quoted,  and  with  the 
exception  of  "  Paul  Revere's  Ride  "  and  "  Lady 
Wentworth "  they  are  not  very  widely  read. 


216     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

These  two  are,  it  is  to  be  observed,  the  most 
essentially  American  among  them.  The  book 
was  originally  to  have  been  called  "  The  Sud- 
bury  Tales,"  and  was  sent  to  the  printer  in 
April,  1863,  under  that  title,  which  was  how- 
ever changed  to  "  Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn," 
through  the  urgency  of  Charles  Sumner. 

It  is  the  common  fate  of  those  poets  who  live 
to  old  age,  that  their  critics,  or  at  least  their  con- 
temporary critics,  are  apt  to  find  their  later  work 
less  valuable  than  their  earlier.  Browning, 
Tennyson,  and  Swinburne,  to  mention  no  others, 
have  had  to  meet  this  fate,  and  Longfellow  did 
not  escape  it.  Whether  it  is  that  the  fame  of 
the  earlier  work  goes  on  accumulating  while 
the  later  has  not  yet  been  tested  by  time,  or 
that  contemporary  admirers  have  grown  older 
and  more  critical  when  they  are  introduced  to 
the  later  verses,  this  is  hard  to  decide.  Even 
when  the  greatest  of  modern  poets  completed  in 
old  age  the  dream  of  his  youth,  it  was  the  fash- 
ion for  a  long  time  to  regard  the  completion  as 
a  failure,  and  it  took  years  to  secure  any  real 
appreciation  to  the  second  part  of  "Faust." 
This  possibility  must  always  be  allowed  for, 
but  the  fact  remains  that  the  title  which  Long- 
fellow himself  chose  for  so  many  of  his  po- 
ems, "  Birds  of  Passage,"  was  almost  painfully 
suggestive  of  a  series  of  minor  works  of  which 


BIRDS  OF  PASSAGE  217 

we  can  only  say  that  had  his  fame  rested  on 
those  alone,  it  would  have  been  of  quite  uncer- 
tain tenure.  A  very  few  of  them,  like  "  Kera- 
mos,"  "  Morituri  Salutamus,"  and  "  The  Herons 
of  Elmwood,"  stand  out  as  exceptions,  and  above 
all  of  these  was  the  exquisite  sonnet  already 
printed  in  this  volume,  "  The  Cross  of  Snow," 
recording  at  last  the  poet's  high  water-mark, 
as  was  the  case  with  Tennyson's  "  Crossing  the 
Bar."  Apart  from  these,  it  may  be  truly  said 
that  the  little  volume  called  "  Flower  de  Luce" 
was  the  last  collection  published  by  him  which 
recalled  his  earlier  strains.  His  volume  "  Ul- 
tima Thule"  appeared  in  1880,  and  "In  the 
Harbor,"  classed  as  a  second  part  to  it,  but  is- 
sued by  others  after  his  death.  With  these 
might  be  placed,  though  not  with  any  precision, 
the  brief  tragedy  of  "  Judas  Maccabseus,"  which 
had  been  published  in  the  "Three  Books  of 
Song,"  in  1872 ;  and  the  unfinished  fragment, 
"  Michael  Angelo,"  which  was  found  in  his  desk 
after  death.  None  of  his  dramatic  poems  showed 
him  to  be  on  firm  ground  in  respect  to  this 
department  of  poesy,  nor  can  they,  except  the 
"  Golden  Legend,"  be  regarded  as  altogether 
successful  literary  undertakings.  It  is  obvious 
that  historic  periods  differ  wholly  in  this  respect ; 
and  all  we  can  say  is  that  while  quite  mediocre 
poets  were  good  dramatists  in  the  Elizabethan 


218     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

period,  yet  good  poets  have  usually  failed  as 
dramatists  in  later  days.  Longfellow's  efforts 
on  this  very  ground  were  not  less  successful,  on 
the  whole,  than  those  of  Tennyson  and  Swin- 
burne; nor  does  even  Browning,  tried  by  the 
test  of  the  actual  stage,  furnish  a  complete  ex- 
ception. 


CHAPTER    XIX 

LAST  TRIP  TO   EUROPE 

ON  May  27,  1868,  Longfellow  sailed  from 
New  York  for  Liverpool  in  the  steamer  Kussia, 
with  a  large  family  party,  including  his  son  and 
his  son's  bride,  his  three  young  daughters,  his 
brother  and  two  sisters,  with  also  a  brother-in- 
law,  the  brilliant  Thomas  G.  Appleton.  On 
arrival  they  went  at  once  to  the  English  lakes, 
visiting  Furness  Abbey,  Corby  Castle,  and  Eden 
Hall,  where  he  saw  still  unimpaired  the  tradi- 
tional goblet  which  Uhland's  ballad  had  vainly 
attempted  to  shatter.  At  Morton,  near  Carlisle, 
while  staying  with  a  friend  he  received  a  public 
address,  to  which  he  thus  replied,  in  one  of  the 
few  speeches  of  his  life  :  — 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN,  —  Being 
more  accustomed  to  speak  with  the  pen  than 
with  the  tongue,  it  is  somewhat  difficult  for  me 
to  find  appropriate  words  now  to  thank  you  for 
the  honor  you  have  done  me,  and  the  very  kind 
expressions  you  have  used.  Coming  here  as  a 
stranger,  this  welcome  makes  me  feel  that  I  am 
not  a  stranger ;  for  how  can  a  man  be  a  stranger 


220     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

in  a  country  where  he  finds  all  doors  and  all 
hearts  open  to  him  ?  Besides,  I  myself  am  a 
Cumberland  man,  —  I  was  born  in  the  County 
of  Cumberland,  in  the  State  of  Maine,  three 
thousand  miles  from  here,  —  and  you  all  know 
that  the  familiar  name  of  a  town  or  country  has 
a  homelike  sound  to  our  ears.  .  .  .  You  can 
think  then  how  very  grateful  it  is  to  me  —  how 
very  pleasant  —  to  find  my  name  has  a  place  in 
your  memories  and  your  affections.  For  this 
kindness  I  most  heartily  thank  you,  and  I  re- 
ciprocate all  the  good  wishes  which  you  have 
expressed  for  perpetual  peace  and  amity  between 
our  two  nations."  1 

He  received  the.  honorary  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Laws  at  Cambridge,  and  the  scene  was  thus 
described  by  a  London  reporter  :  — 

"  Amid  a  score  or  so  of  Heads  of  Houses  and 
other  Academic  dignitaries  conspicuous  by  their 
scarlet  robes,  the  one  on  whom  all  eyes  were 
turned  was  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow.  The 
face  was  one  which  would  have  caught  the  spec- 
tator's glance,  even  if  not  called  to  it  by  the 
cheers  which  greeted  his  appearance  in  the  red 
robes  of  an  LL.  D.  Long,  white,  silken  hair  and 
a  beard  of  patriarchal  whiteness  enclosed  a  fresh- 
colored  countenance,  with  fine-cut  features  and 
deep-sunken  eyes,  overshadowed  by  massive  eye- 

1  Life,  iii.  111. 


LAST  TRIP  TO  EUROPE  221 

brows.  In  a  few  well-rounded  Latin  sentences, 
Mr.  Clark,  the  Public  Orator,  recited  the  claims 
of  the  distinguished  visitor  to  the  privilege  of  an 
honorary  degree.  The  names  of  Hiawatha  and 
Evangeline  sounded  strangely  amid  the  sono- 
rous periods."  1 

Another  journalist  wrote  that  the  orator 
"  drew  a  picture  of  the  function  of  poetry  to 
solace  the  ills  of  life  and  draw  men  from  its 
low  cares  ad  excelsiora.  This  point  was  caught 
at  once  by  the  undergraduates  and  drew  forth 
hearty  cheering.  The  degree  was  then  con- 
ferred." 2 

Arriving  in  London  he  received  a  deluge  of 
cards  and  invitations ;  visited  Windsor  by  invi- 
tation of  the  Queen,  and  was  received  in  one 
of  the  galleries  of  the  castle  ;  called  by  request 
upon  the  Prince  of  Wales  ;  and  was  entertained 
at  dinner  by  Mr.  Bierstadt,  the  landscape  painter, 
who  had  several  hundred  people  to  meet  him. 
Mr.  Longfellow  had  stipulated  that  there  should 
be  no  speeches,  but  after  dinner  there  were  loud 
calls  for  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  said  in  reply,  ac- 
cording to  the  reporters,  that  "  they  must  be 
permitted  to  break  through  the  restrictions 
which  the  authority  of  their  respected  host  had 
imposed  upon  them,  and  to  give  expression  to 
the  feelings  which  one  and  all  entertained  on 

.  *  Life,  iii.  Ill,  112.  *  Ib.  112. 


222     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

this  occasion.  After  all,  it  was  simply  impos- 
sible to  sit  at  the  social  board  with  a  man  of 
Mr.  Longfellow's  world-wide  fame,  without  of- 
fering him  some  tribute  of  their  admiration. 
There  was  perhaps  no  class  of  persons  less  fitted 
to  do  justice  to  an  occasion  of  this  character  than 
those  who  were  destined  to  tread  the  toilsome 
and  dusty  road  of  politics.  Nevertheless,  he 
was  glad  to  render  his  tribute  of  hearty  admira- 
tion to  one  whom  they  were  glad  to  welcome  not 
only  as  a  poet  but  as  a  citizen  of  America."  l 

Mr.  Longfellow  replied  that  "  they  had  taken 
him  by  surprise,  a  traveller  just  landed  and  with 
Bradshaw  still  undigested  upon  his  brain,  and 
they  would  not  expect  him  to  make  a  speech. 
There  were  times,  indeed,  when  it  was  easier  to 
speak  than  to  act ;  but  it  was  not  so  with  him, 
now.  He  would,  however,  be  strangely  consti- 
tuted if  he  did  not  in  his  heart  respond  to  their 
kind  and  generous  welcome.  In  the  longest 
speech  he  could  make,  he  could  but  say  in 
many  phrases  what  he  now  said  in  a  few  sincere 
words,  —  that  he  was  deeply  grateful  for  the 
kindness  which  had  been  shown  him."  2 

After  visiting  the  House  of  Lords  with  Mr. 
R.  C.  Winthrop,  on  one  occasion,  he  was  accosted 
by  a  laboring  man  in  the  street,  who  asked  per- 
mission to  speak  with  him,  and  recited  a  verse 
1  Life,  iii.  114.  2  Ib.  114, 115. 


LAST  TRIP  TO  EUROPE  223 

of  "  Excelsior,"  before  which  the  poet  promptly 
retreated.  Passing  to  the  continent,  the  party 
visited  Switzerland,  crossed  by  the  St.  Gothard 
Pass  to  Italy,  and  reached  Cadenabbia,  on  the 
Lake  of  Como.  They  returned  to  Paris  in  the 
autumn;  then  went  to  Italy  again,  staying  at 
Florence  and  Rome,  where  they  saw  the  Abbe* 
Liszt  and  obtained  that  charming  sketch  of  him 
by  Healy,  in  which  the  great  musician  is  seen 
opening  the  inner  door  and  bearing  a  candle  in 
his  hand.  In  the  spring  they  visited  Naples, 
Venice,  and  Innsbruck,  returning  then  to  Eng- 
land, where  Longfellow  received  the  degree  of 
D.  C.  L.  at  Oxford ;  and  they  then  visited 
Devonshire,  Edinburgh,  and  the  Scottish  lakes. 
He  again  received  numberless  invitations  in 
London,  and  wrote  to  Lowell,  "  It  is  only  by 
dint  of  great  resolution  that  I  escaped  a  dozen 
public  and  semi-public  dinners."  At  the  very 
last  moment  before  sailing,  he  received  a  note 
from  Mr.  E.  J.  Reed,  the  chief  constructor  to 
the  British  Navy,  who  pronounced  his  poem  "  The 
Building  of  the  Ship  "  to  be  the  finest  poem  on 
shipbuilding  that  ever  was  or  ever  would  be 
written.  He  reached  home  September  1,  1869. 
In  his  letters  during  this  period,  one  sees  the  se- 
rene head  of  a  family,  the  absolutely  unspoiled 
recipient  of  praise,  but  not  now  the  eager  and 
enthusiastic  young  pilgrim  of  romance.  Yet  he 


224     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

writes  to  his  friend  Ferguson  that  if  he  "  said 
his  say "  about  York  Cathedral,  his  friends 
would  think  him  sixteen  instead  of  sixty;  and 
again  tells  his  publisher  Fields  that  he  enjoys 
Lugano — never  before  visited  —  to  the  utmost, 
but  that  "  the  old  familiar  place  saddened  "  him.1 
Many  a  traveller  has  had  in  later  life  the  same 
experience. 

1  Life,  iii.  122. 


CHAPTER  XX 

DANTE 

WE  come  now  to  that  great  task  which  Long- 
fellow, after  an  early  experiment,  had  dropped 
for  years,  and  which  he  resumed  after  his  wife's 
death,  largely  for  the  sake  of  an  absorbing  oc- 
cupation. Eighteen  years  before,  November  24, 
1843,  he  had  written  to  Ferdinand  Freiligrath 
that  he  had  translated  sixteen  cantos  of  Dante, 
and  there  seems  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he 
had  done  aught  farther  in  that  direction  until 
this  new  crisis.  After  resuming  the  work,  he 
translated  for  a  time  a  canto  as  each  day's  task, 
and  refers  to  this  habit  in  his  sonnet  on  the 
subject,  where  he  says :  — 

"  I  enter  here  from  day  to  day, 
And  leave  my  burden  at  this  minster  gate." 

The  work  was  not  fully  completed  until  1866, 
and  was  published  in  part  during  the  following 
year. 

The  whole  picture  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  work  was  done  has  long  been  familiar  to  the 
literary  world,  including  the  pleasing  glimpse  of 


226     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

the  little  circle  of  cultivated  friends,  assembled 
evening  after  evening,  to  compare  notes  and 
suggest  improvements.  For  many  years  this 
was  regarded  by  students  and  critics  as  having 
been  almost  an  ideal  method  for  the  production 
of  a  great  work,  and  especially  of  a  translation, 
—  a  task  where  there  is  always  the  original  text 
at  hand  for  reference.  As  time  has  gone  on, 
however,  the  admiration  for  the  completed  work 
has  gradually  been  mingled  with  a  growing 
doubt  whether  this  species  of  joint  production 
was  on  the  whole  an  ideal  one,  and  whether,  in 
fact,  a  less  perfect  work  coming  from  a  single 
mind  might  not  surpass  in  freshness  of  quality, 
and  therefore  in  successful  effort,  any  joint  pro- 
duct. Longfellow  had  written  long  before  to 
Freiligrath  that  making  a  translation  was  "  like 
running  a  ploughshare  through  the  soil  of  one's 
mind,"  *  and  it  would  be  plainly  impossible  to 
run  ploughshares  simultaneously  through  half 
a  dozen  different  minds  at  precisely  the  same 
angle.  The  mind  to  decide  on  a  phrase  or  an 
epithet,  even  in  a  translation,  must,  it  would 
seem,  be  the  mind  from  which  the  phrase  or 
statement  originally  proceeded ;  a  suggestion 
from  a  neighbor  might  sometimes  be  most  felici- 
tous, but  quite  as  often  more  tame  and  guarded ; 
and  the  influence  of  several  neighbors  collectively 
i  Life,  ii.  15. 


DANTE  227 

might  lie,  as  often  happens  in  the  outcome  of 
an  ordinary  committee  meeting,  rather  in  the  di- 
rection of  caution  than  of  vigor.  Longfellow's 
own  temperament  was  of  the  gracious  and  concili- 
atory type,  by  no  means  of  the  domineering  qual- 
ity ;  and  it  is  certainly  a  noticeable  outcome  of  all 
this  joint  effort  at  constructing  a  version  of  this 
great  world-poem,  that  one  of  the  two  original 
delegates,  Professor  Norton,  should  ultimately 
have  published  a  prose  translation  of  his  own. 
It  is  also  to  be  observed  that  Professor  Norton, 
in  the  original  preface  to  his  version,  while  prais- 
ing several  other  translators,  does  not  so  much 
as  mention  the  name  of  Longfellow  ;  and  in  his 
list  of  "Aids  to  the  Study  of  the  'Divine 
Comedy ' "  speaks  only  of  Longfellow's  notes 
and  illustrations,  which  he  praises  as  "admir- 
able." Even  Lowell,  the  other  original  member 
of  the  conference,  while  in  his  "  Dante  "  essay  he 
ranks  Longfellow's  as  "  the  best "  of  the  complete 
translations,  applies  the  word  "  admirable  "  only 
to  those  fragmentary  early  versions,  made  for 
Longfellow's  college  classes  twenty  years  before, 
—  versions  which  the  completed  work  was  ap- 
parently intended  to  supersede. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  imply  that  any  disloyalty 
was  shown  on  the  part  of  these  gentlemen  either 
towards  their  eminent  associate  or  towards  the 
work  on  which  they  had  shared  his  labors ;  it  is 


228      HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

only  that  they  surprise  us  a  little  by  what  they 
do  not  say.  It  may  be  that  they  do  not  praise 
the  Longfellow  version  because  they  confessedly 
had  a  share  in  it,  yet  this  reason  does  not  quite 
satisfy.  Nothing  has  been  more  noticeable  in 
the  popular  reception  of  the  completed  work  than 
the  general  preference  of  unsophisticated  read- 
ers for  those  earlier  translations  thus  heartily 
praised  by  Lowell.  There  has  been  a  general 
complaint  that  the  later  work  does  not  possess 
for  the  English-speaking  reader  the  charm  ex- 
erted by  the  original  over  all  who  can  read 
Italian,  while  those  earlier  and  fragmentary 
specimens  had  certainly  possessed  something  of 
that  charm. 

Those  favorite  versions,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, were  not  the  result  of  any  cooperated  labor, 
having  been  written  by  Professor  Longfellow  in 
an  interleaved  copy  of  Dante  which  he  used  in 
the  class  room.  They  were  three  in  number,  all 
from  the  "  Purgatorio "  and  entitled  by  him 
respectively,  "  The  Celestial  Pilot,"  "  The  Ter- 
restrial Paradise,"  and  "  Beatrice."  They  were 
first  published  in  "  Voices  of  the  Night "  (1839), 
and  twenty-eight  years  had  passed  before  the 
later  versions  appeared.  Those  twenty-eight 
years  had  undoubtedly  enhanced  in  width  and 
depth  Mr.  Longfellow's  knowledge  of  the  Italian 
language  ;  their  labors  and  sorrows  had  matured 


DANTE  229 

the  strength  of  his  mind ;  but  it  is  not  so  clear 
that  they  had  not  in  some  degree  diminished  its 
freshness  and  vivacity,  nor  is  it  clear  that  the 
council  of  friendly  critics  would  be  an  influence 
tending  to  replace  just  those  gifts. 

If  a  comparison  is  to  be  made  between  the 
earlier  and  later  renderings,  the  best  way  would 
doubtless  be  to  place  them  side  by  side  in  parallel 
columns ;  and  while  it  would  be  inappropriate  to 
present  such  a  comparison  here  on  any  large 
scale,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  take  a  passage  at 
random  to  see  the  effect  of  the  two  methods. 
Let  us  take,  for  instance,  a  passage  from  "  Pur- 
gatorio,"  canto  xxx.  lines  22  and  23.  They  are 
thus  in  the  original :  — 

"  Io  vidi  gia  nel  cominciar  del  giorno 
La  parte  oriental  tutta  rosata, 
E  1'  altro  ciel  di  bel  sereno  adorno." 

The  following  is  Longfellow's  translation  of 
1839,  made  by  the  man  of  thirty-two  :  — 

"  Oft  have  I  seen,  at  the  approach  of  day, 
The  orient  sky  all  stained  with  roseate  hues, 
And  the  other  heaven  with  light  serene  adorned." 

The  following  is  the  later  version,  made  by 
the  man  of  sixty,  after  ample  conference  with 
friendly  critics :  — 

"  Ere  now  have  I  beheld,  as  day  began, 
The  eastern  hemisphere  all  tinged  with  rose, 
And  the  other  heaven  with  fair  serene  adorned  ;  " 


230     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

I  do  not  see  how  any  English-speaking  reader 
could  hesitate  for  a  moment  in  finding  a  charm 
far  greater  in  the  first  version  than  in  the 
second,  or  fail  to  recognize  in  it  more  of  that 
quality  which  has  made  the  name  of  Dante 
immortal.  If  this  be  true,  the  only  question 
that  can  be  raised  is  whether  this  advantage  has 
been  won  by  a  sacrifice  of  that  degree  of  literal- 
ness  which  may  fairly  be  demanded  of  a  trans- 
lation in  poetic  form.  Perfect  and  absolute 
literalness,  it  must  be  remembered,  can  only  be 
expected  of  a  prose  version,  and  even  after  the 
most  perfect  metrical  translation  a  prose  version 
may  be  as  needful  as  ever.  Let  us  consider  for 
a  moment  the  two  examples  as  given  above.  It 
may  be  conceded  at  the  outset  that  the  adverb 
gia  is  more  strictly  and  carefully  rendered  by 
"  ere  "  than  by  "  oft,"  but  the  difference  is  not 
important,  as  any  one  old  enough  to  describe  a 
daybreak  has  undoubtedly  seen  more  than  one. 
The  difference  between  "  the  approach  of  day  " 
and  "  as  day  began  "  is  important,  since  the  last 
moment  of  the  approach  coincides  with  the  first 
moment  of  the  beginning.  In  the  second  line, 
"  la  parte  oriental "  is  both  more  literally  and 
more  tersely  rendered  by  "  the  orient  sky,"  than 
by  the  more  awkward  expression  "  the  eastern 
hemisphere,"  unless  it  be  claimed  that  "sky" 
does  not  sufficiently  recognize  the  earth  as  seen 


DANTE  231 

in  the  view ;  to  which  it  may  justly  be  replied 
that  the  word  "hemisphere,"  if  applied  only  to 
the  earth,  equally  omits  the  sky,  and  the  two 
defects  balance  each  other.  "  Tinged  with  rose  " 
is  undoubtedly  a  briefer  expression  for  the  un- 
translatable "  rosata  "  than  "  stained  with  roseate 
hues  "  would  be.  The  last  line  of  the  three  finds 
an  identical  rendering  in  the  two  versions,  and 
while  "  bel  sereno  "  is  more  literally  rendered  by 
"fair  serene"  than  by  "light  serene,"  yet  the 
earlier  phrase  has  the  advantage  of  being  better 
English,  serene  being  there  used  as  an  adjective 
only,  whereas  in  the  later  translation  it  is  used 
as  a  noun,  a  practice  generally  regarded  as  obso- 
lete in  the  dictionaries.  Even  where  the  word  is 
thus  employed,  they  tell  us,  it  does  not  describe 
the  morning  light,  but  indicates,  like  the  French 
word  "  serein,"  an  evening  dampness  ;  as  where 
Daniel  says,  "The  fogs  and  the  serene  offend 
us."  Summing  up  the  comparison,  so  far  as 
this  one  example  goes,  it  would  seem  that  the 
revised  version  of  Longfellow  has  but  very  slight 
advantage  over  its  predecessor,  while  the  loss  of 
vividness  and  charm  is  unquestionable. 

To  carry  the  test  yet  farther,  let  us  compare 
the  three  lines,  in  their  two  successive  versions, 
with  the  prose  version  of  Professor  Norton,  which 
reads  as  follows :  "  I  have  seen  ere  now  at  the 
beginning  of  the  day  the  eastern  region  all  rosy, 


232     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

while  the  rest  of  heaven  was  beautiful  with  fair, 
clear  sky."  Here  the  prose  translator  rightly 
discards  the  "  oft  "  of  the  earlier  Longfellow  ver- 
sion, but  his  "  at  the  beginning  "  is  surely  nearer 
to  the  "  at  the  approach  "  of  the  first  version 
than  to  the  less  literal  "  as  day  began  "  of  the 
second.  The  prose  "  the  eastern  region  "  con- 
forms to  the  second  version  "  the  eastern  hemi- 
sphere," but  surely  the  Italian  "  la  parte  ori- 
ental "  is  more  nearly  met  by  "  the  orient  sky  " 
than  by  either  of  these  heavier  and  more  geo- 
graphical substitutes,  which  have  a  flavor  of  the 
text-book.  Both  the  Longfellow  versions  have 
"  the  other  heaven,"  which  is  a  literal  rendering 
of  "  1'  altro  ciel,"  whereas  "  the  rest  of  heaven  " 
is  a  shade  looser  in  expression,  and  "  fair,  clear 
sky  "  also  forfeits  the  condensation  of  "  light 
serene  "  or  "  fair  serene,"  of  which  two  phrases 
the  first  seems  the  better,  for  reasons  already 
given.  On  the  whole,  if  we  take  Professor  Nor- 
ton's prose  translation  as  the  standard,  Longfel- 
low's later  version  seems  to  me  to  gain  scarcely 
anything  upon  the  earlier  in  literalness,  while  it 
loses  greatly  in  freshness  and  triumphant  joyous- 
ness. 

Nor  is  this  in  any  respect  an  unreasonable 
criticism.  For  what  does  a  translation  exist, 
after  all,  if  not  to  draw  us  toward  that  quality 
in  the  original  which  the  translator,  even  at  his 


DANTE  233 

best,  can  rarely  reach  ?  Goethe  says  that  "  the 
translator  is  a  person  who  introduces  you  to  a 
veiled  beauty ;  he  makes  you  long  for  the  loveli- 
ness behind  the  veil,"  and  we  have  in  the  notes 
to  his  "  West-Ostliche  Divan "  the  celebrated 
analysis  of  the  three  forms  of  translation.  He 
there  says,  "  Translation  is  of  three  kinds : 
First,  the  prosaic  prose  translation,  which  is  use- 
ful in  enriching  the  language  of  the  translator 
with  new  ideas,  but  gives  up  all  poetic  art,  and 
reduces  even  the  poetic  enthusiasm  to  one  level 
watery  plain.  Secondly,  the  re-creation  of  the 
poem  as  a  new  poem,  rejecting  or  altering  all 
that  seems  foreign  to  the  translator's  nationality, 
producing  a  paraphrase  which  might,  in  the  pri- 
mal sense  of  the  word,  be  called  a  parody.  And, 
thirdly,  .  .  .  the  highest  and  last,  where  one 
strives  to  make  the  translation  identical  with  the 
original ;  so  that  one  is  not  instead  of  the  other, 
but  in  the  place  of  the  other.  This  sort  of  trans- 
lation .  .  .  '  approaches  the  interlinear  version, 
and  makes  the  understanding  of  the  original  a 
much  easier  task  ;  thus  we  are  led  into  the  ori- 
ginal, —  yes,  even  driven  in ;  and  herein  the 
great  merit  of  this  kind  of  translation  lies.'  "  l 
It  may  be  doubted,  however,  whether  Long- 

1  I  here  follow  the  condensed  version  of  Mr.  W.  P.  Andrews, 
in  his  remarkable  paper  "  On  the  Translation  of  Faust " 
(Atlantic  Monthly,  Ixvi.,  733). 


234     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

fellow,  even  if  left  to  himself  in  making  his  ver- 
sion, could  ever  have  reached  the  highest  point 
attained  by  Goethe,  from  the  mere  difference 
between  the  two  languages  with  which  he  and 
his  original  had  to  deal.  The  charm  of  Long- 
fellow's earlier  versions  is,  after  all,  an  English 
charm,  and  perhaps  the  quality  of  Dante  can  no 
more  be  truthfully  transmuted  into  this  than  we 
can  transmute  the  charms  of  a  spring  morning 
into  those  of  a  summer  afternoon,  or  violets  into 
roses.  Goethe,  it  is  well  known,  took  for  his 
model  as  to  the  language  of  "  Faust "  the  poetry 
of  Hans  Sachs,  Longfellow's  "  cobbler  bard  ;  " 
and  Dante's  terse  monosyllables  were  based  upon 
the  language  of  the  people,  which  he  first  em- 
bodied in  art.  To  mellow  its  refreshing  brevities 
would  perhaps  be  to  destroy  it,  and  that  which 
Mr.  Andrews  finely  says  of  the  "  Faust  "may 
be  still  more  true  of  the  "  Divina  Commedia," 
that  it  "  must  remain,  after  all,  the  enchanted 
palace ;  and  the  bodies  and  the  bones  of  those 
who  in  other  days  strove  to  pierce  its  encircling 
hedge  lie  scattered  thickly  about  it."  So  Mr. 
W.  C.  Lawton,  himself  an  experienced  transla- 
tor from  the  Greek,  says  of  Longfellow's  work, 
"  His  great  version  is  but  a  partial  success,  for  it 
essays  the  unattainable."  1  But  if  it  be  possible 
to  win  this  success,  it  is  probably  destined  to  be 
1  The  New  England  Poets,  p.  138. 


DANTE  235 

done  by  one  translator  working  singly  and  not 
in  direct  cooperation  with  others,  however  gifted 
or  accomplished.  Every  great  literary  work 
needs  criticism  from  other  eyes  during  its  pro- 
gress. Nevertheless  it  will  always  remain  doubt- 
ful whether  any  such  work,  even  though  it  be  a 
translation  only,  can  be  satisfactorily  done  by 
joint  labor. 

After  all,  when  others  have  done  their  best,  it 
is  often  necessary  to  fall  back  upon  the  French 
Joubert  for  the  final  touch  of  criticism ;  and  in 
his  unequalled  formula  for  translating  Homer, 
we  find  something  not  absolutely  applicable  to 
Dantean  translation,  yet  furnishing  much  food 
for  thought.  The  following  is  the  passage : 
"  There  will  never  be  an  endurable  translation 
of  Homer,  unless  its  words  are  chosen  with 
skill  and  are  full  of  variety,  of  freshness,  and 
of  charm.  It  is  also  essential  that  the  diction 
should  be  as  antique,  as  simple,  as  are  the  man- 
ners, the  events,  and  the  personages  portrayed. 
With  our  modern  style  everything  attitudinizes 
in  Homer,  and  his  heroes  seem  fantastic  figures 
which  personate  the  grave  and  proud."  l 

1  II  n'y  aura  jamais  de  traduction  d'Homere  supportable,  si 
tous  les  mots  n'en  sont  choisis  avec  art  et  pleins  de  varie'te',  de 
nouveaute'  et  d'agre'ment.  II  faut,  d'ailleurs,  que  1'expression 
soit  aussi  antique,  aussi  nue  que  les  moeurs,  les  e've'nements  et 
les  personnages  mis  en  scene.  Avec  notre  style  moderne,  tout 
grimace  dans  Homere,  et  ses  he'ros  semblent  des  grotesques  qui 
font  les  graves  et  les  fiers.  —  Penstes  de  J.  Joubert,  p.  342. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE   LOFTIER   STRAIN  :    CHRISTUS 

AFTER  all,  no  translation,  even  taken  at  its 
best,  can  wholly  satisfy  an  essentially  original 
mind.  Longfellow  wrote  in  his  diary,  November 
19,  1849,  as  follows:  "And  now  I  long  to  try 
a  loftier  strain,  the  sublimer  Song  whose  broken 
melodies  have  for  so  many  years  breathed  through 
my  soul  in  the  better  hours  of  life,  and  which  I 
trust  and  believe  will  ere  long  unite  themselves 
into  a  symphony  not  all  unworthy  the  sublime 
theme,  but  furnishing  4  some  equivalent  expres- 
sion for  the  trouble  and  wrath  of  life,  for  its 
sorrow  and  its  mystery.'  " 

This  of  course  refers  to  the  great  poetic  de- 
sign of  his  life,  "  Christus,  a  Mystery,"  of  which 
he  wrote  again  on  December  10, 1849,  "  A  bleak 
and  dismal  day.  Wrote  in  the  morning  4  The 
Challenge  of  Thor '  as  prologue  or  *  Intro'itus ' 
to  the  second  part  of  '  Christus/  '  This  he  laid 
aside ;  just  a  month  from  that  time  he  records  in 
his  diary,  "  In  the  evening,  pondered  and  medi- 
tated the  sundry  scenes  of  '  Christus.' "  Later, 
he  wrote  some  half  dozen  scenes  or  more  of 


THE  LOFTIER  STRAIN:   CHRISTUS     237 

"  The  Golden  Legend  "  which  is  Part  Second  of 
"  Christus,"  representing  the  mediaeval  period. 
He  afterwards  wished,  on  reading  Kingsley's 
"  Saint's  Tragedy,"  that  he  had  chosen  the  theme 
of  Elizabeth  of  Hungary  in  place  of  the  minor 
one  employed  (Der  Arme  Heinrich),  although  if 
we  are  to  judge  by  the  comparative  interest  in- 
spired by  the  two  books,  there  is  no  reason  for 
regret.  At  any  rate  his  poem  was  published  — 
the  precursor  by  more  than  twenty  years  of  any 
other  portion  of  the  trilogy  of  "  Christus."  The 
public,  and  even  his  friends,  knew  but  little  of 
his  larger  project,  but  "  The  Golden  Legend  "  on 
its  publication  in  1851  showed  more  of  the  dra- 
matic quality  than  anything  else  he  had  printed, 
and  Ruskin  gave  to  it  the  strong  praise  of  say- 
ing, "  Longfellow  in  his  '  Golden  Legend '  has 
entered  more  closely  into  the  temper  of  the 
monk,  for  good  or  for  evil,  than  ever  yet  theo- 
logical writer  or  historian,  though  they  may  have 
given  their  life's  labor  to  the  analysis."  1  It  is 
to  be  noted  that  the  passage  in  the  book  most 
criticised  as  unjust  is  taken  from  a  sermon  of 
an  actual  Italian  preacher  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. But  its  accuracy  or  depth  in  this  respect 
was  probably  less  to  the  general  public  than  its 
quality  of  readableness  or  that  which  G.  P.  R. 
James,  the  novelist,  described  as  "its  resem- 

1  Modern  Painters,  vol.  v.  chap.  xx. 


238     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

blance  to  an  old  ruin  with  the  ivy  and  the  rich 
blue  mould  upon  it."  If  the  rest  of  the  long 
planned  book  could  have  been  as  successful  as 
for  the  time  being  was  the  "  Golden  Legend," 
the  dream  of  Longfellow's  poetic  life  would  have 
been  fulfilled. 

In  view  of  such  praise  as  Buskin's,  the  ques- 
tion of  anachronism  more  or  less  is  of  course 
quite  secondary.  Errors  of  a  few  centuries 
doubtless  occur  in  it.  Longfellow  himself  states 
the  period  at  which  he  aims  as  1230.  But  the 
spire  of  Strassburg  Cathedral  of  which  he  speaks 
was  not  built  until  the  fifteenth  century,  though 
the  church  was  begun  in  the  twelfth,  when 
Walter  the  Minnesinger  flourished.  "The  Lily 
of  Medicine,"  which  Prince  Henry  is  reading 
when  Lucifer  drops  in,  was  not  written  until 
after  1300,  nor  was  St.  John  Nepomuck  canon- 
ized until  after  that  date.  The  Algerine  piracies 
did  not  begin  until  the  sixteenth  century.  There 
were  other  such  errors ;  yet  these  do  not  impair 
the  merit  of  the  book.  Some  curious  modifica- 
tions also  appear  in  later  editions.  In  the  pas- 
sage where  the  monk  Felix  is  described  in  the 
first  edition  as  pondering  over  a  volume  of  St. 
Augustine,  this  saint  disappears  in  later  editions, 
while  the  Scriptures  are  substituted  and  the  pas- 
sage reads : — 


THE  LOFTIER  STRAIN :   CHRISTUS     239 

"  Wherein  amazed  he  read 
A  thousand  years  in  thy  sight 
Are  but  as  yesterday  when  it  is  past 
And  as  a  watch  in  the  night ;  " 

and  in  the  next  line  "  downcast "  is  substituted 
for  "  cast  down,"  in  order  to  preserve  the  rhyme. 
A  very  curious  modification  of  a  whole  scene  is 
to  be  found  where  the  author  ventured  in  the 
original  edition  (1851)  to  introduce  a  young 
girl  at  the  midnight  gaudiolum  or  carnival  of 
the  monks,  she  being  apparently  disguised  as  a 
monk,  like  Lucifer  himself.  This  whole  passage 
or  series  of  passages  was  left  out  in  the  later 
editions,  whether  because  it  was  considered  too 
daring  by  his  critics  or  perhaps  not  quite  daring 
enough  to  give  full  spirit  to  the  scene. 

Turning  now  to  "  The  New  England  Trage- 
dies," we  find  that  as  far  back  as  1839,  be- 
fore he  had  conceived  of  "  Christus,"  he  had 
thought  of  a  drama  on  Cotton  Mather.  Then  a 
suggestion  came  to  him  in  1856  from  his  Ger- 
man friend,  Emanuel  Vitalis  Scherb,  of  whom 
he  writes  on  March  16,  1856  :  "  Scherb  wants 
me  to  write  a  poem  on  the  Puritans  and  the 
Quakers.  A  good  subject  for  a  tragedy."  On 
March  25  and  26  we  find  him  looking  over 
books  on  the  subject,  especially  Besse's  "Suf- 
ferings of  the  Quakers ; "  on  April  2  he  writes 
a  scene  of  the  play ;  on  May  1  and  2  he  is 


240     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

pondering  and  writing  notes,  and  says :  "  It  is 
delightful  to  revolve  in  one's  mind  a  new  concep- 
tion." He  also  works  upon  it  in  a  fragmentary 
way  in  July  and  in  November,  and  remarks,  in 
the  midst  of  it,  that  he  has  lying  on  his  table 
more  than  sixty  requests  for  autographs.  As  a 
background  to  all  of  this  lie  the  peculiar  excite- 
ments of  that  stormy  summer  of  1856,  when  his 
friend  Sumner  was  struck  down  in  the  United 
States  Senate  and  he  himself,  meeting  with  an 
accident,  was  lamed  for  weeks  and  was  unable 
to  go  to  Europe  with  his  children  as  he  had  in- 
tended. The  first  rough  draft  of  "Wenlook 
Christison,"  whose  title  was  afterwards  changed 
to  "  John  Endicott,"  and  which  was  the  first  of 
"  The  New  England  Tragedies,"  was  not  finished 
till  August  27,  1857,  and  the  work  alternated 
for  a  time  with  that  done  on  "  Miles  Standish ; " 
but  it  was  more  than  ten  years  (October  10, 
1868)  before  it  was  published,  having  first  been 
written  in  prose,  and  only  ten  copies  printed 
and  afterwards  rewritten  in  verse.  With  it  was 
associated  the  second  New  England  Tragedy, 
"  Giles  Corey  "  of  the  Salem  farms,  written  rap- 
idly in  February  of  that  same  year.  The  vol- 
ume never  made  a  marked  impression ;  even  the 
sympathetic  Mr.  Fields,  the  publisher,  receiving 
it  rather  coldly.  It  never  satisfied  even  its 
author,  and  the  new  poetic  idea  which  occurred 


THE  LOFTIER  STRAIN :   CHRISTUS     241 

to  him  on  April  11, 1871,  and  which  was  to  har- 
monize the  discord  of  "  The  New  England  Trage- 
dies "  was  destined  never  to  be  fulfilled.  In  the 
mean  time,  however,  he  carried  them  to  Europe 
with  him,  and  seems  to  have  found  their  only 
admirer  in  John  Forster,  who  wrote  to  him  in 
London  :  "  Your  tragedies  are  very  beautiful  — 
beauty  everywhere  subduing  and  chastening  the 
sadness;  the  pictures  of  nature  in  delightful 
contrast  to  the  sorrowful  and  tragic  violence  of 
the  laws  ;  truth  and  unaffectedness  everywhere. 
I  hardly  know  which  I  like  best;  but  there 
are  things  in  '  Giles  Corey '  that  have  a  strange 
attractiveness  for  me."  Longfellow  writes  to 
Fields  from  Vevey,  September  5,  1868 :  "  I  do 
not  like  your  idea  of  calling  the  *  Tragedies' 
sketches.  They  are  not  sketches,  and  only  seem 
so  at  first  because  I  have  studiously  left  out  all 
that  could  impede  the  action.  I  have  purposely 
made  them  simple  and  direct."  He  later  adds : 
"  As  to  anybody's  4  adapting '  these  '  Tragedies ' 
for  the  stage,  I  do  not  like  the  idea  of  it  at  all. 
Prevent  this  if  possible.  I  should,  however, 
like  to  have  the  opinion  of  some  good  actor  — 
not  a  sensational  actor  —  on  that  point.  I  should 
like  to  have  Booth  look  at  them."  Six  weeks 
later,  having  gone  over  to  London  to  secure  the 
copyright  on  these  poems,  he  writes :  "  I  saw 
also  Bandmann,  the  tragedian,  who  expressed 


242     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

the  liveliest  interest  in  what  I  told  him  of  the 
'  Tragedies.' "  Finally  he  says,  two  days  later, 
"  Bandmann  writes  me  a  nice  letter  about  the 
'Tragedies,'  but  says  they  are  not  adapted  to 
the  stage.  So  we  will  say  no  more  about  that, 
for  the  present."  l 

"  Christus  :  A  Mystery  "  appeared  as  a  whole 
in  1872,  for  the  first  time  bringing  together  the 
three  parts  (I.  "The  Divine  Tragedy;"  II. 
"The  Golden  Legend,"  and  III.  "The  New 
England  Tragedies  ").  "  The  Divine  Tragedy," 
which  now  formed  the  first  part,  was  not  only  in 
some  degree  criticised  as  forming  an  anti-climax 
in  being  placed  before  the  lighter  portions  of  the 
great  drama,  but  proved  unacceptable  among  his 
friends,  and  was  often  subjected  to  the  charge  of 
being  .unimpressive  and  even  uninteresting.  On 
the  other  hand,  we  have  the  fact  that  it  absorbed' 
him  more  utterly  than  any  other  portion  of  the 
book.  He  writes  in  his  diary  on  January  6, 1871, 
"  The  subject  of  '  The  Divine  Tragedy '  has  taken 
entire  possession  of  me,  so  that  I  can  think  of 
nothing  else.  All  day  pondering  upon  and  ar- 
ranging it."  And  he  adds  next  day,  "  I  find  all 
hospitalities  and  social  gatherings  just  now  great 
interruptions."  Yet  he  has  to  spend  one  morn- 
ing that  week  in  Boston  at  a  meeting  of  stock- 
holders ;  on  another  day  Agassiz  comes,  broken 
1  Life,  iii.  123,  125. 


THE  LOFTIER  STRAIN:   CHRISTUS     243 

down  even  to  tears  by  the  loss  of  health  and 
strength  ;  on  another  day  there  is  "  a  continued 
series  of  interruptions  from  breakfast  till  dinner. 
I  could  not  get  half  an  hour  to  myself  all  day 
long.  Oh,  for  a  good  snow-storm  to  block  the 
door !  "  Still  another  day  it  is  so  cold  he  can 
scarcely  write  in  his  study,  and  he  has  "  so  many 
letters  to  answer."  Yet  he  writes  during  that 
month  a  scene  or  two  every  day.  We  know 
from  the  experience  of  all  poets  that  the  most 
brilliant  short  poems  may  be  achieved  with  won- 
derful quickness,  but  for  a  continuous  and  sus- 
tained effort  an  author  surely  needs  some  con- 
trol over  his  own  time. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  never  yet  quite  explained, 
that  an  author's  favorite  work  is  rarely  that 
whose  popular  success  best  vindicates  his  confi- 
dence. This  was  perhaps  never  more  manifest 
than  in  the  case  of  Longfellow's  "  Christus  "  as 
a  whole,  and  more  especially  that  portion  of  it 
on  which  the  author  lavished  his  highest  and 
most  consecrated  efforts,  "  The  Divine  Tragedy." 
Mr.  Scudder  has  well  said  that  "there  is  no 
one  of  Mr.  Longfellow's  writings  which  may  be 
said  to  have  so  dominated  his  literary  life  "  as 
the  "  Christus,"  and  it  shows  his  sensitive  reti- 
cence that  the  portion  of  it  which  was  first  pub- 
lished, "  The  Golden  Legend  "  (1851),  gave  to 
the  reader  no  suggestion  of  its  being,  as  we  now 


244     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

know  that  it  was,  but  a  portion  of  a  larger  de- 
sign. Various  things  came  in  the  way,  and 
before  "  The  Divine  Tragedy  "  appeared  (1871) 
he  had  written  of  it,  "  I  never  had  so  many 
doubts  and  hesitations  about  any  book  as  about 
this."  On  September  11  in  that  year  he  wrote 
in  Nahant,  "  Begin  to  pack.  I  wish  it  were  over 
and  I  in  Cambridge.  I  am  impatient  to  send 
'The  Divine  Tragedy'  to  the  printers."  On 
*  the  18th  of  October  he  wrote :  "  The  delays  of 
printers  are  a  great  worry  to  authors  ;  "  on  the 
25th,  "  Get  the  last  proof  sheet  of  4  The  Divine 
Tragedy  ; '"  on  the  30th,  "  Kead  over  proofs  of 
the  '  Interludes '  and  '  Finale,'  and  am  doubtful 
and  perplexed ;  "  on  November  15,  "  All  the 
last  week,  perplexed  and  busy  with  final  correc- 
tion of  '  The  Tragedy.'  "  It  was  published  on 
December  12,  and  he  writes  to  G.  W.  Greene, 
December  17,  1871,  "  *  The  Divine  Tragedy '  is 
very  successful,  from  the  booksellers'  point  of 
view  —  ten  thousand  copies  were  published  on 
Tuesday  last  and  the  printers  are  already  at 
work  on  three  thousand  more.  That  is  pleasant, 
but  that  is  not  the  main  thing.  The  only  ques- 
tion about  a  book  ought  to  be  whether  it  is  suc- 
cessful in  itself." 

It  is  altogether  probable  that  in  the  strict 
views  then  prevailing  about  the  very  letter  of 
the  Christian  Scriptures,  a  certain  antagonism 


THE  LOFTIER  STRAIN:   CHRISTUS     245 

may  have  prevailed,  even  toward  the  skill  with 
which  he  transferred  the  sacred  narratives  into 
a  dramatic  form,  just  as  it  is  found  that  among 
certain  pious  souls  who  for  the  first  time  yield 
their  scruples  so  far  as  to  enter  a  theatre,  the 
mere  lifting  of  the  curtain  seems  to  convey  sug- 
gestions of  sin.  Be  this  as  it  may,  we  find  in 
Longfellow's  journal  this  brief  entry  (December 
30) :  "  Received  from  Routledge  in  London, 
three  notices  of 4  The  Tragedy,'  all  hostile."  He, 
however,  was  cheered  by  the  following  letter 
from  Horace  Bushnell,  then  perhaps  the  most 
prominent  among  the  American  clergy  for  origi- 
nality and  spiritual  freedom :  — 

HARTFORD,  December  28,  1871. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  Since  it  will  be  a  satisfaction 
to  me  to  express  my  delight  in  the  success  of 
your  poem,  you  cannot  well  deny  me  the  privi- 
lege. When  I  heard  the  first  announcement  of 
it  as  forthcoming,  I  said,  "  Well,  it  is  the  grand- 
est of  all  subjects ;  why  has  it  never  been  at- 
tempted ?  "  And  yet  I  said  inwardly  in  the  next 
breath  :  "  What  mortal  power  is  equal  to  the 
handling  of  it?"  The  greater  and  the  more 
delightful-  is  my  surprise  at  the  result.  You 
have  managed  the  theme  with  really  wonderful 
address.  The  episodes,  and  the  hard  characters, 
and  the  partly  imaginary  characters,  you  had 


246     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

your  liberty  in ;  and  you  have  used  them  well 
to  suffuse  and  flavor  and  poetize  the  story.  And 
yet,  I  know  not  how  it  is,  but  the  part  which 
finds  me  most  perfectly,  and  is,  in  fact,  the  most 
poetic  poetry  of  all,  is  the  prose-poem,  —  the 
nearly  rhythmic  transcription  of  the  simple  nar- 
rative matter  of  the  gospels.  Perhaps  the  true 
account  of  it  may  be  that  the  handling  is  so  del- 
icately reverent,  intruding  so  little  of  the  poet's 
fine  thinking  and  things,  that  the  reverence  in- 
corporate promotes  the  words  and  lifts  the  ranges 
of  the  sentiment ;  so  that  when  the  reader  comes 
out  at  the  close,  he  finds  himself  in  a  curiously 
new  kind  of  inspiration,  born  of  modesty  and 
silence. 

I  can  easily  imagine  that  certain  chaffy  people 
may  put  their  disrespect  on  you  for  what  I  con- 
sider your  praise.  Had  you  undertaken  to  build 
the  Christ  yourself,  as  they  would  require  of 
you,  I  verily  believe  it  would  have  killed  you,  — 
that  is,  made  you  a  preacher. 

With  many  thanks,  I  am  yours, 

HORACE  BusHNELL.1 

It  would  not  now  be  easy  to  ascertain  what 

these  hostile  notices  of  "  The  Divine  Tragedy  " 

were,  but  it  would  seem  that  for  some   reason 

the  poem  did  not,  like  its  predecessors,  find  its 

i  Life,  iii.  192,  193. 


THE  LOFTIER  STRAIN :   CHRISTUS     247 

way  to  the  popular  heart.  When  one  considers 
the  enthusiasm  which  greeted  Willis'  scriptural 
poems  in  earlier  days,  or  that  which  has  in  later 
days  been  attracted  by  semi-scriptural  prose 
fictions,  such  as  "  The  Prince  of  the  House  of 
David  "  and  "  Ben  Hur,"  the  latter  appearing, 
moreover,  in  a  dramatic  form,  there  certainly 
seems  no  reason  why  Longfellow's  attempt  to 
grapple  with  the  great  theme  should  be  so  little 
successful.  The  book  is  not,  like  "  The  New 
England  Tragedies,"  which  completed  the  circle 
of  "  Christus,"  dull  in  itself.  It  is,  on  the  con- 
trary, varied  and  readable ;  not  merely  poetic 
and  tender,  which  was  a  matter  of  course  in 
Longfellow's  hands,  but  strikingly  varied,  its 
composition  skilful,  the  scripture  types  well 
handled,  and  the  additional  figures,  Helen  of 
Tyre,  Simon  Magus,  and  Menahem  the  Esse- 
nian,  skilfully  introduced  and  effectively  man- 
aged. Yet  one  rarely  sees  the  book  quoted ;  it 
has  not  been  widely  read,  and  in  all  the  vast 
list  of  Longfellow  translations  into  foreign  lan- 
guages, there  appears  no  version  of  any  part  of 
it  except  the  comparatively  modern  and  medi- 
aeval "  Golden  Legend."  It  has  simply  afforded 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  instances  in  literary 
history  of  the  utter  ignoring  of  the  supposed 
high  water-mark  of  a  favorite  author. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

WESTMINSTEK   ABBEY 

LONGFELLOW  was  the  first  American  to  be 
commemorated,  on  the  mere  ground  of  public 
service  and  distant  kinship  of  blood,  in  West- 
minster Abbey.  The  impressions  made  by  that 
circumstance  in  America  were  very  various,  but 
might  be  classed  under  two  leading  attitudes. 
There  were  those  to  whom  the  English-speaking 
race  seemed  one,  and  Westminster  Abbey  its 
undoubted  central  shrine,  an  opinion  of  which 
Lowell  was  a  high  representative,  as  his  speech 
on  the  occasion  showed.  There  were  those,  on 
the  other  hand,  to  whom  the  American  republic 
seemed  a  wholly  new  fact  in  the  universe,  and 
one  which  should  have  its  own  shrines.  To  this 
last  class  the  "  Hall  of  Fame,"  upon  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson,  would  appeal  more  strongly  than 
Westminster  Abbey ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the 
interest  inspired  by  that  enterprise  was  partly 
due,  at  the  outset,  to  the  acceptance  of  Long- 
fellow in  England's  greatest  shrine.  It  may  be 
fairly  said,  however,  on  reflection,  that  there  is 
no  absolute  inconsistency  between  these  two 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY  249 

opinions.  No  one,  surely,  but  must  recognize 
the  dignity  of  the  proceeding  when  an  American 
writer,  born  and  bred,  is,  as  it  were,  invited  after 
death  to  stand  as  a  permanent  representative  of 
his  race  in  the  storied  abbey.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  may  easily  be  conceded  that  the  dignitaries  of 
Westminster  are  not,  of  themselves,  necessarily 
so  well  versed  in  American  claims  as  to  make  their 
verdict  infallible  or  even  approximate.  The  true 
solution  would  appear  to  be  that  in  monuments, 
as  in  all  other  forms  of  recognition,  each  nation 
should  have  its  own  right  of  selection,  and  that 
it  should  be  recognized  as  a  gratifying  circum- 
stance when  these  independent  judgments  happen 
to  coincide.  The  following  is  the  best  London 
report  of  the  services  on  this  occasion  :  — 

"On  Saturday,  March  2,  1884,  at  midday, 
the  ceremony  of  unveiling  a  bust  of  Longfellow 
took  place  in  Poets'  Corner,  Westminster  Abbey. 
It  is  the  work  of  Mr.  Thomas  Brock,  A.  R.  A., 
and  was  executed  by  desire  of  some  five  hun- 
dred admirers  of  the  American  poet.  It  stands 
on  a  bracket  near  the  tomb  of  Chaucer,  and 
between  the  memorials  to  Cowley  and  Dryden. 
Before  the  ceremony  took  place,  a  meeting 
of  the  subscribers  was  held  in  the  Jerusalem 
Chamber.  In  the  absence  of  Dean  Bradley, 
owing  to  a  death  in  his  family,  the  Sub-Dean, 
Canon  Prothero,  was  called  to  the  chair. 


250     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

"Mr.  Bennoch  having  formally  announced 
the  order  of  proceeding,  Dr.  Bennett  made  a 
brief  statement,  and  called  upon  Earl  Granville 
to  ask  the  Dean's  acceptance  of  the  bust. 

"  Earl  Granville  then  said  :  '  Mr.  Sub-Dean, 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  ...  I  am  afraid  I  can- 
not fulfil  the  promise  made  for  me  of  making 
a  speech  on  this  occasion.  Not  that  there  are 
wanting  materials  for  a  speech ;  there  are  ma- 
terials of  the  richest  description.  There  are, 
first  of  all,  the  high  character,  the  refinement, 
and  the  personal  charm  of  the  late  illustrious 
poet,  —  if  I  may  say  so  in  the  presence  of  those 
so  near  and  so  dear  to  him.  There  are  also  the 
characteristics  of  those  works  which  have  secured 
for  him  not  a  greater  popularity  in  the  United 
States  themselves  than  in  this  island  and  in  all 
the  English-speaking  dependencies  of  the  British 
Empire.  There  are,  besides,  very  large  views 
with  regard  to  the  literature  which  is  common 
to  both  the  United  States  and  ourselves,  and 
with  regard  to  the  separate  branches  of  litera- 
ture which  have  sprung  up  in  each  country,  and 
which  act  and  react  with  so  much  advantage  one 
upon  another;  and  there  are,  above  all,  those 
relations  of  a  moral  and  intellectual  character 
which  become  bonds  stronger  and  greater  every 
day  between  the  intellectual  and  cultivated 
classes  of  these  two  great  countries.  I  am 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY  251 

happy  to  say  that  with  such  materials  there  are 
persons  here  infinitely  more  fitted  to  deal  than  I 
could  have  been  even  if  I  had  had  time  to  bestow 
upon  the  thought  and  the  labor  necessary  to 
condense  into  the  limits  of  a  speech  some  of  the 
considerations  I  have  mentioned.  I  am  glad 
that  among  those  present  there  is  one  who  is 
not  only  the  official  representative  of  the  United 
States,  but  who  speaks  with  more  authority  than 
any  one  with  regard  to  the  literature  and  intel- 
lectual condition  of  that  country.  I  cannot  but 
say  how  glad  I  am  that  I  have  been  present  at 
two  of  the  meetings  held  to  inaugurate  this 
work,  and  I  am  delighted  to  be  present  here  to 
take  part  in  the  closing  ceremony.  With  the 
greatest  pleasure  I  make  the  offer  of  this  memo- 
rial to  the  Sub-Dean ;  and  from  the  kindness  we 
have  received  already  from  the  authorities  of 
Westminster  Abbey,  I  have  no  doubt  it  will  be 
received  in  the  same  spirit.  I  beg  to  offer  you, 
Mr.  Sub-Dean,  the  bust  which  has  been  sub- 
scribed for.' 

"The  American  Minister,  Mr.  Lowell,  then 
said:  'Mr.  Sub-Dean,  my  Lord,  Ladies  and 
Gentlemen,  I  think  I  may  take  upon  myself  the 
responsibility,  in  the  name  of  the  daughters  of 
my  beloved  friend,  to  express  their  gratitude  to 
Lord  Granville  for  having  found  time,  amid  the 
continuous  and  arduous  calls  of  his  duty,  to  be 


252     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

present  here  this  morning.  Having  occasion  to 
speak  in  this  place  some  two  years  ago,  I  remem- 
ber that  I  then  expressed  the  hope  that  some 
day  or  other  the  Abbey  of  Westminster  would 
become  the  Valhalla  of  the  whole  English-speak- 
ing race.  I  little  expected  then  that  a  beginning 
would  be  made  so  soon,  —  a  beginning  at  once 
painful  and  gratifying  in  the  highest  degree  to 
myself,  —  with  the  bust  of  my  friend.  Though 
there  be  no  Academy  in  England  which  cor- 
responds to  that  of  France,  yet  admission  to 
Westminster  Abbey  forms  a  sort  of  posthumous 
test  of  literary  eminence  perhaps  as  effectual. 
Every  one  of  us  has  his  own  private  Valhalla, 
and  it  is  not  apt  to  be  populous.  But  the  con- 
ditions of  admission  to  the  Abbey  are  very  dif- 
ferent. We  ought  no  longer  to  ask  why  is  so- 
and-so  here,  and  we  ought  always  to  be  able  to 
answer  the  question  why  such  a  one  is  not  here. 
I  think  that  on  this  occasion  I  should  express 
the  united  feeling  of  the  whole  English-speaking 
race  in  confirming  the  choice  which  has  been 
made,  —  the  choice  of  one  whose  name  is  dear 
to  them  all,  who  has  inspired  their  lives  and 
consoled  their  hearts,  and  who  has  been  admitted 
to  the  fireside  of  all  of  them  as  a  familiar  friend. 
Nearly  forty  years  ago  I  had  occasion,  in  speak- 
ing of  Mr.  Longfellow,  to  suggest  an  analogy 
between  him  and  the  English  poet  Gray ;  and  I 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY  253 

have  never  since  seen  any  reason  to  modify  or 
change  that  opinion.  There  are  certain  very 
marked  analogies  between  them,  I  think.  In 
the  first  place,  there  is  the  same  love  of  a  cer- 
tain subdued  splendor,  not  inconsistent  with 
transparency  of  diction  ;  there  is  the  same  power 
of  absorbing  and  assimilating  the  beauties  of 
other  literature  without  loss  of  originality ;  and, 
above  all,  there  is  that  genius,  that  sympathy 
with  universal  sentiments  and  the  power  of 
expressing  them  so  that  they  come  home  to 
everybody,  both  high  and  low,  which  character- 
ize both  poets.  There  is  something  also  in  that 
simplicity,  —  simplicity  in  itself  being  a  distinc- 
tion. But  in  style,  simplicity  and  distinction 
must  be  combined  in  order  to  their  proper 
effect ;  and  the  only  warrant  perhaps  of  perma- 
nence in  literature  is  this  distinction  in  style. 
It  is  something  quite  indefinable  ;  it  is  something 
like  the  distinction  of  good-breeding,  character- 
ized perhaps  more  by  the  absence  of  certain 
negative  qualities  than  by  the  presence  of  cer- 
tain positive  ones.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  dis- 
tinction of  style  is  eminently  found  in  the  poet 
whom  we  are  met  here  in  some  sense  to  celebrate 
to-day.  This  is  not  the  place,  of  course,  for 
criticism  ;  still  less  is  it  the  place  for  eulogy,  for 
eulogy  is  but  too  often  disguised  apology.  But  I 
have  been  struck  particularly  —  if  I  may  bring 


254     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

forward  one  instance  —  with  some  of  my  late 
friend's  sonnets,  which  seem  to  me  to  be  some  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  perfect  we  have  in  the 
language.  His  mind  always  moved  straight 
towards  its  object,  and  was  always  permeated 
with  the  emotion  that  gave  it  frankness  and 
sincerity,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  ample 
expression.  It  seems  that  I  should  add  a  few 
words  —  in  fact,  I  cannot  refrain  from  adding  a 
few  words  —  with  regard  to  the  personal  char- 
acter of  a  man  whom  I  knew  for  more  than 
forty  years,  and  whose  friend  I  was  honored  to 
call  myself  for  thirty  years.  Never  was  a  private 
character  more  answerable  to  public  performance 
than  that  of  Longfellow.  Never  have  I  known 
a  more  beautiful  character.  I  was  familiar  with 
it  daily,  —  with  the  constant  charity  of  his  hand 
and  of  his  mind.  His  nature  was  consecrated 
ground,  into  which  no  unclean  spirit  could  ever 
enter.  I  feel  entirely  how  inadequate  anything 
that  I  can  say  is  to  the  measure  and  proportion 
of  an  occasion  like  this.  But  I  think  I  am  au- 
thorized to  accept,  in  the  name  of  the  people  of 
America,  this  tribute  to  not  the  least  distin- 
guished of  her  sons,  to  a  man  who  in  every  way, 
both  in  public  and  private,  did  honor  to  the 
country  that  gave  him  birth.  I  cannot  add 
anything  more  to  what  was  so  well  said  in  a 
few  words  by  Lord  Granville,  for  I  do  not 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY  255 

think  that  these  occasions  are  precisely  the 
times  for  set  discourses,  but  rather  for  a  few 
words  of  feeling,  of  gratitude,  and  of  apprecia- 
tion.' 

"The  Sub-Dean,  in  accepting  the  bust,  re- 
marked that  it  was  impossible  not  to  feel,  in  doing 
so,  that  they  were  accepting  a  very  great  honor 
to  the  country.  He  could  conceive  that  if  the 
great  poet  were  allowed  to  look  down  on  the 
transactions  of  that  day,  he  would  not  think  it 
unsatisfactory  that  his  memorial  had  been  placed 
in  that  great  Abbey  among  those  of  his  brothers 
in  poetry. 

"  The  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  moved  a 
vote  of  thanks  to  the  honorary  secretary  and  the 
honorary  treasurer,  and  said  he  thought  he  had 
been  selected  for  the  duty  because  he  had  spent 
two  or  three  years  of  his  life  in  the  United 
States,  and  a  still  longer  time  in  some  of  the 
British  colonies.  It  gave  him  the  greater  plea- 
sure to  do  this,  having  known  Mr.  Longfellow 
in  America,  and  having  from  boyhood  enjoyed 
his  poetry,  which  was  quite  as  much  appreciated 
in  England  and  her  dependencies  as  in  America. 
Wherever  he  had  been  in  America,  and  where- 
ever  he  had  met  Americans,  he  had  found  there 
was  one  place  at  least  which  they  looked  upon  as 
being  as  much  theirs  as  it  was  England's  —  that 
place  was  the  Abbey  Church  of  Westminster. 


256     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

It  seemed,  therefore,  to  him  that  the  present 
occasion  was  an  excellent  beginning  of  the  recog- 
nition of  the  Abbey  as  what  it  had  been  called, 
—  the  Valhalla  of  the  English-speaking  people. 
He  trusted  this  beginning  would  not  be  the  end 
of  its  application  in  this  respect. 

"  The  company  then  proceeded  to  Poets'  Cor- 
ner, where,  taking  his  stand  in  front  of  the  cov- 
ered bust, 

"  The  Sub-Dean  then  said :  '  I  feel  to-day  that 
a  double  solemnity  attaches  to  this  occasion 
which  calls  us  together.  There  is  first  the  fa- 
miliar fact  that  to-day  we  are  adding  another 
name  to  the  great  roll  of  illustrious  men  whom 
we  commemorate  within  these  walls,  that  we  are 
adding  something  to  that  rich  heritage  which  we 
have  received  of  national  glory  from  our  ances- 
tors, and  which  we  feel  bound  to  hand  over  to 
our  successors,  not  only  unimpaired,  but  even 
increased.  There  is  then  the  novel  and  peculiar 
fact  which  attaches  to  the  erection  of  a  monu- 
ment here  to  the  memory  of  Henry  Longfellow. 
In  some  sense,  poets  —  great  poets  like  him  — 
maybe  said  to  be  natives  of  all  lands  ;  but  never 
before  have  the  great  men  of  other  countries, 
however  brilliant  and  widespread  their  fame, 
been  admitted  to  a  place  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
A  century  ago  America  was  just  commencing 
her  perilous  path  of  independence  and  self-gov- 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY  257 

ernment.  Who  then  could  have  ventured  to 
predict  that  within  the  short  space  of  one  hun- 
dred years  we  in  England  should  be  found  to 
honor  an  American  as  much  as  we  could  do 
so  by  giving  his  monument  a  place  within  the 
sacred  shrine  which  holds  the  memories  of  our 
most  illustrious  sons?  Is  there  not  in  this  a 
very  significant  fact ;  is  it  not  an  emphatic  proof 
of  the  oneness  which  belongs  to  our  common 
race,  and  of  the  community  of  our  national 
glories  ?  May  I  not  add,  is  it  not  a  pledge  that 
we  give  to  each  other  that  nothing  can  long 
and  permanently  sever  nations  which  are  bound 
together  by  the  eternal  ties  of  language,  race, 
religion,  and  common  feeling  ? ' 

"  The  reverend  gentleman  then  removed  the 
covering  from  the  bust,  and  the  ceremony 
ended."  * 

1  Life,  iii.  346-061. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

LONGFELLOW   AS   A   POET 

THE  great  literary  lesson  of  Longfellow's  life 
is  to  be  found,  after  all,  in  this,  that  while  he  was 
the  first  among  American  poets  to  create  for  him- 
self a  world-wide  fame,  he  was  guided  from  youth 
to  age  by  a  strong  national  feeling,  or  at  any  rate 
by  the  desire  to  stand  for  the  life  and  the  asso- 
ciations by  which  he  was  actually  surrounded. 
Such  a  tendency  has  been  traced  in  this  volume 
from  his  first  childish  poetry  through  his  chosen 
theme  for  a  college  debate,  his  commencement 
oration,  his  plans  formed  during  a  first  foreign 
trip,  and  the  appeal  made  in  his  first  really  ori- 
ginal paper  in  the  "  North  American  Review." 
All  these  elements  of  aim  and  doctrine  were 
directly  and  explicitly  American,  and  his  most 
conspicuous  poems,  "  Evangeline,"  "  The  Court- 
ship of  Miles  Standish,"  "  Hiawatha,"  and  "  The 
Wayside  Inn,"  were  unequivocally  American 
also.  In  the  group  of  poets  to  which  he  be- 
longed, he  was  the  most  travelled  and  the  most 
cultivated,  in  the  ordinary  sense,  while  Whittier 
was  the  least  so ;  and  yet  they  are,  as  we  have 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  POET  259 

seen,  the  two  who  —  in  the  English-speaking 
world,  at  least  —  hold  their  own  best ;  the  line 
between  them  being  drawn  only  where  foreign 
languages  are  in  question,  and  there  Longfellow 
has  of  course  the  advantage.  In  neither  case,  it 
is  to  be  observed,  was  this  Americanism  trivial, 
boastful,  or  ignoble  in  its  tone.  It  would  be 
idle  to  say  that  this  alone  constitutes,  for  an 
American,  the  basis  of  fame ;  for  the  high  im- 
aginative powers  of  Poe,  with  his  especial  gift 
of  melody,  though  absolutely  without  national 
flavor,  have  achieved  for  him  European  fame,  at 
least  in  France,  this  being  due,  however,  mainly 
to  his  prose  rather  than  to  his  poetry,  and  perhaps 
also  the  result,  more  largely  than  we  recognize, 
of  the  assiduous  discipleship  of  a  single  French- 
man, just  as  Carlyle's  influence  in  America  was 
due  largely  to  Emerson.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it 
is  certain  that  the  hold  of  both  Longfellow  and 
Whittier  is  a  thing  absolutely  due,  first,  to  the 
elevated  tone  of  their  works,  and  secondly,  that 
they  have  made  themselves  the  poets  of  the 
people.  No  one  can  attend  popular  meetings  in 
England  without  being  struck  with  the  readiness 
with  which  quotations  from  these  two  poets  are 
heard  from  the  lips  of  speakers,  and  this,  while 
not  affording  the  highest  test  of  poetic  art,  still 
yields  the  highest  secondary  test,  and  one  on 
which  both  these  authors  would  doubtless  have 


260     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

been  willing  to  rest  their  final  appeal  for  re- 
membrance. 

In  looking  back  over  Longfellow's  whole  ca- 
reer, it  is  certain  that  the  early  criticisms  upon 
him,  especially  those  of  Margaret  Fuller,  had 
an  immediate  and  temporary  justification,  but 
found  ultimate  refutation.  The  most  common- 
place man  can  be  better  comprehended  at  the 
end  of  his  career  than  he  can  be  analyzed  at  its 
beginning  ;  and  of  men  possessed  of  the  poetic 
temperament,  this  is  eminently  true.  We  now 
know  that  at  the  very  time  when  "  Hyperion  " 
and  the  "  Voices  of  the  Night  "  seemed  largely 
European  in  their  atmosphere,  the  author  him- 
self, in  his  diaries,  was  expressing  that  longing 
for  American  subjects  which  afterwards  predom- 
inated in  his  career.  Though  the  citizen  among 
us  best  known  in  Europe,  most  sought  after  by 
foreign  visitors,  he  yet  gravitated  naturally  to 
American  themes,  American  friends,  home  inter- 
ests, plans,  and  improvements.  He  always  voted 
at  elections,  and  generally  with  the  same  party, 
took  an  interest  in  all  local  affairs  and  public 
improvements,  headed  subscription  papers,  was 
known  by  sight  among  children,  and  answered 
readily  to  their  salutations.  The  same  quality 
of  citizenship  was  visible  in  his  literary  work. 
Lowell,  who  was  regarded  in  England  as  an 
almost  defiant  American,  yet  had  a  distinct  lik- 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  POET  261 

ing,  which  was  not  especially  shared  by  Long- 
fellow, for  English  ways.  If  people  were  ever 
misled  on  this  point,  which  perhaps  was  not  the 
case,  it  grew  out  of  his  unvarying  hospitality 
and  courtesy,  and  out  of  the  fact  vaguely  recog- 
nized by  all,  but  best  stated  by  that  keen  critic, 
the  late  Mr.  Horace  E.  Scudder,  when  he  says 
of  Longfellow :  "  He  gave  of  himself  freely  to 
his  intimate  friends,  but  he  dwelt,  nevertheless, 
in  a  charmed  circle,  beyond  the  lines  of  which 
men  could  not  penetrate.  ...  It  is  rare  that 
one  in  our  time  has  been  the  centre  of  so  much 
admiration,  and  still  rarer  that  one  has  preserved 
in  the  midst  of  it  all  that  integrity  of  nature 
which  never  abdicates."  1 

It  is  an  obvious  truth  in  regard  to  the  literary 
works  of  Longfellow,  that  while  they  would  have 
been  of  value  at  any  time  and  place,  their  worth 
to  a  new  and  unformed  literature  was  priceless. 
The  first  need  of  such  a  literature  was  no  doubt 
a  great  original  thinker,  such  as  was  afforded  us 
in  Emerson.  But  for  him  we  should  perhaps 
have  been  still  provincial  in  thought  and  imita- 
tive in  theme  and  illustration  ;  our  poets  would 
have  gone  on  writing  about  the  skylark  and  the 
nightingale,  which  they  might  never  have  seen 
or  heard  anywhere,  rather  than  about  the  bobo- 
link and  the  humble-bee,  which  they  knew.  It 

1  Scudder's  Men  and  Letters,  p.  68. 


262     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

was  Emerson  and  the  so-called  Transcendental- 
ists  who  really  set  our  literature  free  ;  yet  Long- 
fellow rendered  a  service  only  secondary,  in 
enriching  and  refining  it  and  giving  it  a  cosmo- 
politan culture,  and  an  unquestioned  standing 
in  the  literary  courts  of  the  civilized  world.  It 
was  a  great  advantage,  too,  that  in  his  more 
moderate  and  level  standard  of  execution  there 
was  afforded  no  room  for  reaction.  The  same 
attributes  that  keep  Longfellow  from  being  the 
greatest  of  poets  will  make  him  also  one  of  the 
most  permanent.  There  will  be  no  extreme  ups 
and  downs  in  his  fame,  as  in  that  of  those  great 
poets  of  whom  Ruskin  writes,  "  Cast  Coleridge 
at  once  aside,  as  sickly  and  useless  ;  and  Shelley 
as  shallow  and  verbose."  The  finished  excellence 
of  his  average  execution  will  sustain  it  against 
that  of  profounder  thinkers  and  more  daring 
sons  of  song.  His  range  of  measures  is  not 
great,  but  his  workmanship  is  perfect ;  he  has 
always  "  the  inimitable  grace  of  not  too  much  ; " 
he  has  tested  all  literatures,  all  poetic  motives, 
and  all  the  simpler  forms  of  versification,  and  he 
can  never  be  taken  unprepared.  He  will  never 
be  read  for  the  profoundest  stirring,  or  for  the 
unlocking  of  the  deepest  mysteries  ;  he  will 
always  be  read  for  invigoration,  for  comfort,  for 
content. 

No  man  is  always  consistent,  and  it  is  not  to 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  POET  263 

be  claimed  that  Longfellow  was  always  ready  to 
reaffirm  his  early  attitude  in  respect  to  a  na- 
tional literature.  It  is  not  strange  that  after  he 
had  fairly  begun  to  create  one,  he  should  some- 
times be  repelled  by  the  class  which  has  always 
existed  who  think  that  mere  nationality  should 
rank  first  and  an  artistic  standard  afterwards. 
He  writes  on  July  24,  1844,  to  an  unknown 
correspondent :  — 

"  I  dislike  as  much  as  any  one  can  the  tone  of 
English  criticism  in  reference  to  our  literature. 
But  when  you  say,  '  It  is  a  lamentable  fact  that 
as  yet  our  country  has  taken  no  decided  steps 
towards  establishing  a  national  literature,'  it 
seems  to  me  that  you  are  repeating  one  of  the 
most  fallacious  assertions  of  the  English  critics. 
Upon  this  point  I  differ  entirely  from  you  in 
opinion.  A  national  literature  is  the  expression 
of  national  character  and  thought ;  and  as  our 
character  and  modes  of  thought  do  not  differ 
essentially  from  those  of  England,  our  literature 
cannot.  Vast  forests,  lakes,  and  prairies  cannot 
make  great  poets.  They  are  but  the  scenery  of 
the  play,  and  have  much  less  to  do  with  the 
poetic  character  than  has  been  imagined.  Nei- 
ther Mexico  nor  Switzerland  has  produced  any 
remarkable  poet. 

"  I  do  not  think  a  4  Poets'  Convention  '  would 


264     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

help  the  matter.  In  fact,  the  matter  needs  no 
helping."  1 

In  the  same  way  he  speaks  with  regret,  three 
years  later,  November  5,  1847,  of  "The  pro- 
spectus of  a  new  magazine  in  Philadelphia  to 
build  up  4  a  national  literature  worthy  of  the 
country  of  Niagara  —  of  the  land  of  forests  and 
eagles.'  " 

One  feels  an  inexhaustible  curiosity  as  to  the 
precise  manner  in  which  each  favorite  poem  by  a 
favorite  author  comes  into  existence.  In  the  case 
of  Longfellow  we  find  this  illustrated  only  here 
and  there.  We  know  that  "  The  Arrow  and  the 
Song,"  for  instance,  came  into  his  mind  instanta- 
neously ;  that "  My  Lost  Youth  "  occurred  to  him 
in  the  night,  after  a  day  of  pain,  and  was  written 
the  next  morning ;  that  on  December  17, 1839,  he 
read  of  shipwrecks  reported  in  the  papers  and  of 
bodies  washed  ashore  near  Gloucester,  one  lashed 
to  a  piece  of  the  wreck,  and  that  he  wrote, 
"There  is  a  reef  called  Norman's  Woe  where 
many  of  these  took  place;  among  others  the 
schooner  Hesperus.  Also  the  Sea-Flower  on 
Black  Rock.  I  must  write  a  ballad  upon  this  ; 
also  two  others,  — '  The  Skeleton  in  Armor '  and 
4  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert.'  "  A  fortnight  later  he 
sat  at  twelve  o'clock  by  his  fire,  smoking,  when 
suddenly  it  came  into  his  mind  to  write  the 

1  Life,  ii.  19,  20. 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  POET  265 

Ballad  of  the  Schooner  Hesperus,  which  he 
says,  "  I  accordingly  did.  Then  I  went  to  bed, 
but  could  not  sleep.  New  thoughts  were  run- 
ning in  my  mind,  and  I  got  up  to  add  them  to 
the  ballad.  It  was  three  by  the  clock.  I  then 
went  to  bed  and  fell  asleep.  I  feel  pleased  with 
the  ballad.  It  hardly  cost  me  an  effort.  It  did 
not  come  into  my  mind  by  lines,  but  by  stanzas." 
A  few  weeks  before,  taking  up  a  volume  of 
Scott's  "  Border  Minstrelsy,"  he  had  received  in 
a  similar  way  the  suggestion  of  "  The  Beleaguered 
City  "  and  of  "  The  Luck  of  Edenhall." 

We  know  by  Longfellow's  own  statement  to 
Mr.  W.  C.  Lawton,1  that  it  was  his  rule  to  do  his 
best  in  polishing  a  poem  before  printing  it,  but 
afterwards  to  leave  it  untouched,  on  the  principle 
that  "the  readers  of  a  poem  acquired  a  right 
to  the  poet's  work  in  the  form  they  had  learned 
to  love."  He  thought  also  that  Bryant  and 
Whittier  hardly  seemed  happy  in  these  belated 
revisions,  and  mentioned  especially  Bryant's 
"  Water-Fowl," 

"  As  darkly  limned  upon  the  ethereal  sky," 

where  Longfellow  preferred  the  original  reading 
"  painted  on."  It  is,  however,  rare  to  find  a 
poet  who  can  carry  out  this  principle  of  absti- 
nence, at  least  in  his  own  verse,  and  we  know 

1  The  New  England  Poets,  p.  141. 


266     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

too  surely  that  Longfellow  was  no  exception ; 
thus  we  learn  that  he  had  made  important  alter- 
ations in  the  "  Golden  Legend  "  within  a  few 
weeks  of  publication.  These  things  show  that 
his  remark  to  Mr.  Lawton  does  not  tell  quite 
the  whole  story.  As  with  most  poets,  his  alter- 
ations were  not  always  improvements.  Thus,  in 
"The  Wreck  of  the  Hesperus,"  he  made  the 
fourth  verse  much  more  vigorous  to  the  ear  as 
it  was  originally  written, — 

"  Then  up  and  spoke  an  old  sai!6r 
Had  sailed  the  Spanish  Main," 

than  when  he  made  the  latter  line  read 

"Sailed  to  the  Spanish  Main," 

as  in  all  recent  editions.  The  explanation  doubt- 
less was  that  he  at  first  supposed  the  "  Spanish 
Main  "  to  mean  the  Caribbean  Sea ;  whereas  it 
actually  referred  only  to  the  southern  shore  of 
it.  Still  more  curious  is  the  history  of  a  line 
in  one  of  his  favorite  poems,  "  To  a  Child." 
Speaking  of  this,  he  says  in  his  diary,1  "  Some 
years  ago,  writing  an  '  Ode  to  a  Child,'  I  spoke  of 

The  buried  treasures  of  the  miser,  Time.' 

What  was  my  astonishment  to-day,  in  reading  for 
the  first  time  in  my  life  Wordsworth's  ode  '  On 
the  Power  of  Sound,'  to  read 

'  All  treasures  hoarded  by  the  miser,  Time.'  " 
1  Life,  ii.  189. 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A   POET  267 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  was  not  the  original 
form  of  the  Longfellow  passage,  which  was,  — 

"  The  buried  treasures  of  dead  centuries," 

followed  by 

"  The  burning  tropic  skies." 

More  than  this,  the  very  word  "  miser  "  was  not 
invariably  used  in  this  passage  by  the  poet,  as 
during  an  intermediate  period  it  had  been 
changed  to  "  pirate,"  a  phrase  in  some  sense 
more  appropriate  and  better  satisfying  the  ear. 
The  curious  analogy  to  Wordsworth's  line  did 
not  therefore  lie  in  the  original  form  of  his  own 
poem,  but  was  an  afterthought.  It  is  fortunate 
that  this  curious  combination  of  facts,  all  utterly 
unconscious  on  his  part,  did  not  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  Poe  during  his  vindictive  period. 

It  is  to  be  noticed,  however,  that  Longfellow 
apparently  made  all  these  changes  to  satisfy  his 
own  judgment,  and  did  not  make  them,  as  Whit- 
tier  and  even  Browning  often  did,  in  deference 
to  the  judgment  of  dull  or  incompetent  critics. 
It  is  to  be  remembered  that  even  the  academic 
commentators  on  Longfellow  still  leave  children 
to  suppose  that  the  Berserk's  tale  in  "  The  Skele- 
ton in  Armor  "  refers  to  a  supposed  story  that  the 
Berserk  was  telling  ;  although  the  word  "  tale  " 
is  unquestionably  used  in  the  sense  of  "  tally  " 
or  "  reckoning,"  to  indicate  how  much  ale  the 


268     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

Norse  hero  could  drink.  Readers  of  Milton 
often  misinterpret  his  line, 

"  And  every  shepherd  tells  his  tale," 

in  a  similar  manner,  and  the  shepherd  is  sup- 
posed by  many  young  readers  to  be  pouring  out 
a  story  of  love  or  of  adventure,  whereas  he  is 
merely  counting  up  the  number  of  his  sheep. 

It  will  always  remain  uncertain  how  far  Poe 
influenced  the  New  England  poets,  whether  by 
example  or  avoidance.  That  he  sometimes 
touched  Lowell,  and  not  for  good,  is  unques- 
tionable, in  respect  to  rhythm ;  but  it  will  al- 
ways remain  a  question  whether  his  influence 
did  not  work  in  the  other  direction  with  Long- 
fellow in  making  him  limit  himself  more  strictly 
to  a  narrow  range  of  metrical  structure.  It  was 
an  admirable  remark  of  Tennyson's  that  "  every 
short  poem  should  have  a  definite  shape  like  the 
curve,  sometimes  a  single,  sometimes  a  double 
one,  assumed  by  a  severed  tress,  or  the  rind  of 
an  apple  when  flung  to  the  floor."  l  This  type 
of  verse  was  rarely  attempted  by  Longfellow,  but 
he  chose  it  most  appropriately  for  "  Seaweed  " 
and  in  some  degree  succeeded.  Poe  himself  in 
his  waywardness  could  not  adhere  to  it  when  he 
reached  it,  and  after  giving  us  in  the  original 
form  of  "  Lenore,"  as  published  in  "  The  Pio- 

1  Tennyson's  Life,  by  his  son,  i.  507. 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  POET  269 

neer,"  perhaps  the  finest  piece  of  lyric  measure 
in  our  literature,  made  it  over  into  a  form  of 
mere  jingling  and  hackneyed  rhythm,  adding 
even  the  final  common  placeness  of  his  tiresome 
"  repetend."  Lowell  did  something  of  the  same 
in  cutting  down  the  original  fine  strain  of  the 
verses  beginning  "  Pine  in  the  distance,"  but 
Longfellow  showed  absolutely  no  trace  of  Poe, 
unless  as  a  warning  against  multiplying  such 
rhythmic  experiments  as  he  once  tried  success- 
fully in  "  Seaweed."  On  the  other  hand,  with 
all  his  love  for  Lowell,  his  native  good  taste 
kept  him  from  the  confused  metaphors  and  occa- 
sional over-familiarities  into  which  Lowell  was 
sometimes  tempted. 

Perhaps  the  most  penetrating  remark  made 
about  Longfellow's  art  is  that  of  Horace  Scud- 
der :  "  He  was  first  of  all  a  composer,  and  he 
saw  his  subjects  in  their  relations,  rather  than  in 
their  essence."  As  a  translator,  he  was  gener- 
ally admitted  to  have  no  superior  in  the  English 
tongue,  his  skill  was  unvarying  and  absolutely 
reliable.  Even  here  it  might  be  doubted  whether 
he  ever  attained  the  wonderful  success  sometimes 
achieved  in  single  instances,  as,  for  instance,  in 
Mrs.  Sarah  Austen's  "  Many  a  Year  is  in  its 
Grave,"  which,  under  the  guise  of  a  perfect 
translation,  yet  gives  a  higher  and  finer  touch 
than  that  of  the  original  poem  of  Riickert.  But 


270     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

taking  Longfellow's  great  gift  in  this  direction 
as  it  was,  we  can  see  that  it  was  somewhat  akin 
to  this  quality  of  "  composition,"  rather  than 
of  inspiration,  which  marked  his  poems. 
He  could  find  it  delightful 

"  To  lie 

And  gaze  into  a  summer  sky 
And  watch  the  trailing  clouds  go  by 
Like  ships  upon  the  sea." 

But  it  is  a  vast  step  from  this  to  Browning's 
mountain  picture 

"  Toward  it  tilting  cloudlets  prest 
Like  Persian  ships  to  Salamis." 

In  Browning  everything  is  vigorous  and  individ- 
ualized. We  see  the  ships,  we  know  the  nation- 
ality, we  recall  the  very  battle,  and  over  these 
we  see  in  imagination  the  very  shape  and  move- 
ments of  the  clouds  ;  but  there  is  no  conceivable 
reason  why  Longfellow's  lines  should  not  have 
been  written  by  a  blind  man  who  knew  clouds 
merely  by  the  descriptions  of  others.  The  limi- 
tation of  Longfellow's  poems  reveals  his  tem- 
perament. He  was  in  his  perceptions  essentially 
of  poetic  mind,  but  always  in  touch  with  the 
common  mind  ;  as  individual  lives  grow  deeper, 
students  are  apt  to  leave  Longfellow  for  Tenny- 
son, just  as  they  forsake  Tennyson  for  Browning. 
As  to  action,  the  tonic  of  life,  so  far  as  he  had 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  POET  271 

it,  was  supplied  to  him  through  friends,  —  Sum- 
ner  in  America  ;  Freiligrath  in  Europe,  —  and 
yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  he  would  not, 
but  for  a  corresponding  quality  in  his  own  na- 
ture, have  had  just  such  friends  as  these.  He 
was  not  led  by  his  own  convictions  to  leave  his 
study  like  Emerson  and  take  direct  part  as  a 
contestant  in  the  struggles  of  the  time.  It  is  a 
curious  fact  that  Lowell  should  have  censured 
Thoreau  for  not  doing  in  this  respect  just  the 
thing  which  Thoreau  ultimately  did  and  Long- 
fellow did  not.  It  was,  however,  essentially  a 
difference  of  temperament,  and  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  Longfellow  wrote  in  his  diary 
under  date  of  December  2,  1859,  "  This  will  be 
a  great  day  in  our  history  ;  the  date  of  a  new 
Eevolution,  —  quite  as  much  needed  as  the  old 
one.  Even  now  as  I  write,  they  are  leading  old 
John  Brown  to  execution  in  Virginia,  for  at- 
tempting to  rescue  slaves !  This  is  sowing  the 
wind  to  reap  the  whirlwind,  which  will  come 
soon." 

His  relations  with  Whittier  remained  always 
kindly  and  unbroken.  They  dined  together  at 
the  Atlantic  Club  and  Saturday  Club,  and  Long- 
fellow wrote  of  him  in  1857,  "  He  grows  milder 
and  mellower,  as  does  his  poetry."  He  went  to 
Concord  sometimes  to  dine  with  Emerson,  "and 
meet  his  philosophers,  Alcott,  Thoreau,  and  Chan- 


272     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

ning."  Or  Emerson  came  to  Cambridge,  "  to  take 
tea,"  giving  a  lecture  at  the  Lyceum,  of  which 
Longfellow  says,  "  The  lecture  good,  but  not  of 
his  richest  and  rarest.  His  subject  '  Eloquence.' 
By  turns  he  was  grave  and  jocose,  and  had  some 
striking  views  and  passages.  He  lets  in  a 
thousand  new  lights,  side-lights,  and  cross-lights, 
into  every  subject."  When  Emerson's  collected 
poems  are  sent  him,  Longfellow  has  the  book 
read  to  him  all  the  evening  and  until  late  at 
night,  and  writes  of  it  in  his  diary :  "  Through- 
out the  volume,  through  the  golden  mist  and 
sublimation  of  fancy,  gleam  bright  veins  of 
purest  poetry,  like  rivers  running  through 
meadows.  Truly,  a  rare  volume  ;  with  many 
exquisite  poems  in  it,  among  which  I  should 
single  out  '  Monadnoc,'  '  Threnody,'  '  The  Hum- 
ble-Bee,' as  containing  much  of  the  quintessence 
of  poetry."  Emerson's  was  one  of  the  five  por- 
traits drawn  in  crayon  by  Eastman  Johnson,  and 
always  kept  hanging  in  the  library  at  Craigie 
House ;  the  others  being  those  of  Hawthorne, 
Sumner,  Felton,  and  Longfellow  himself.  No 
one  can  deny  to  our  poet  the  merits  of  absolute 
freedom  from  all  jealousy  and  of  an  invariable 
readiness  to  appreciate  those  classified  by  many 
critics  as  greater  than  himself.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  students  of  Browning  in  America,  when 
the  latter  was  known  chiefly  by  his  "  Bells  and 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A   POET  273 

Pomegranates,"  and  instinctively  selected  the 
"  Blot  in  the  'Scutcheon  "  as  "  a  play  of  great 
power  and  beauty,"  as  the  critics  would  say,  and 
as  every  one  must  say  who  reads  it.  He  is  an 
extraordinary  genius,  Browning,  with  dramatic 
power  of  the  first  order.  "  Paracelsus  "  he  de- 
scribes, with  some  justice,  as  "  very  lofty,  but 
very  diffuse."  Of  Browning's  "  Christmas  Eve  " 
he  later  writes,  "  A  wonderful  man  is  Browning, 
but  too  obscure,"  and  later  makes  a  similar  re- 
mark on  "  The  Ring  and  the  Book."  Of  Ten- 
nyson he  writes,  as  to  "  The  Princess,"  calling 
it  "  a  gentle  satire,  in  the  easiest  and  most  flow- 
ing blank  verse,  with  two  delicious  un  rhymed 
songs,  and  many  exquisite  passages.  I  went  to 
bed  after  it,  with  delightful  music  ringing  in  my 
ears  ;  yet  half  disappointed  in  the  poem,  though 
not  knowing  why.  There  is  a  discordant  note 
somewhere." 

One  very  uncertain  test  of  a  man  of  genius  is 
his  "  table-talk."  Surrounded  by  a  group  of  men 
who  were  such  masters  of  this  gift  as  Lowell, 
Holmes,  and  T.  G.  Apple  ton,  Longfellow  might 
well  be  excused  from  developing  it  to  the  highest 
extent,  and  he  also  "  being  rather  a  silent  man," 
as  he  says  of  himself,  escaped  thereby  the  ten- 
dency to  monologue,  which  was  sometimes  a  sub- 
ject of  complaint  in  regard  to  the  other  three. 
Longfellow's  reticence  and  self-control  saved  him 


274     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

from  all  such  perils  ;  but  it  must  be  admitted,  on 
the  other  hand,  that  when  his  brother  collects  a 
dozen  pages  of  his  "  table-talk  "  at  the  end  of 
his  memoirs,  or  when  one  reads  his  own  list  of 
them  in  "  Kavauagh,"  the  reader  feels  a  slight 
inadequacy,  as  of  things  good  enough  to  be  said, 
but  not  quite  worth  the  printing.  Yet  at  their 
best,  they  are  sometimes  pungent  and  telling,  as 
where  he  says,  "  When  looking  for  anything  lost, 
begin  by  looking  where  you  think  it  is  not ;  " 
or,  "  Silence  is  a  great  peace-maker ;  "  or,  "  In 
youth  all  doors  open  outward ;  in  old  age 
they  all  open  inward,"  or,  more  thoughtfully, 
"  Amusements  are  like  specie  payments.  We 
do  not  much  care  for  them,  if  we  know  we  can 
have  them ;  but  we  like  to  know  they  may  be 
had,"  or  more  profoundly  still,  "  How  often  it 
happens  that  after  we  know  a  man  personally, 
we  cease  to  read  his  writings.  Is  it  that  we 
exhaust  him  by  a  look  ?  Is  it  that  his  person- 
ality gives  us  all  of  him  we  desire  ?  "  There 
are  also  included  among  these  passages  some 
thoroughly  poetic  touches,  as  where  he  says, 
"  The  spring  came  suddenly,  bursting  upon  the 
world  as  a  child  bursts  into  a  room,  with  a  laugh 
and  a  shout,  and  hands  full  of  flowers."  Or 
this,  "  How  sudden  and  sweet  are  the  visitations 
of  our  happiest  thoughts ;  what  delightful  sur- 
prises !  In  the  midst  of  life's  most  trivial 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  POET  275 

occupations,  —  as  when  we  are  reading  a  news- 
paper, or  lighting  a  bed-candle,  or  waiting  for 
our  horses  to  drive  round,  —  the  lovely  face 
appears,  and  thoughts  more  precious  than  gold 
are  whispered  in  our  ear." 

The  test  of  popularity  in  a  poet  is  nowhere 
more  visible  than  in  the  demand  for  autographs. 
Longfellow  writes  in  his  own  diary  that  on  No- 
vember 25, 1856,  he  has  more  than  sixty  such  re- 
quests lying  on  his  table ;  and  again  on  January  9, 
"  Yesterday  I  wrote,  sealed,  and  directed  seventy 
autographs.  To-day  I  added  five  or  six  more  and 
mailed  them."  It  does  not  appear  whether  the 
later  seventy  applications  included  the  earlier 
sixty,  but  it  is,  in  view  of  the  weakness  of  human 
nature,  very  probable.  This  number  must  have 
gone  on  increasing.  I  remember  that  in  1875  I 
saw  in  his  study  a  pile  which  must  have  num- 
bered more  than  seventy,  and  which  had  come  in 
a  single  day  from  a  single  high  school  in  a  West- 
ern city,  to  congratulate  him  on  his  birthday, 
and  each  hinting  at  an  autograph,  which  I  think 
he  was  about  to  supply. 

At  the  time  of  his  seventy-fourth  birthday, 
1881,  a  lady  in  Ohio  sent  him  a  hundred  blank 
cards,  with  the  request  that  he  would  write  his 
name  on  each,  that  she  might  distribute  them 
among  her  guests  at  a  party  she  was  to  give  on 
that  day.  The  same  day  was  celebrated  by  some 


276     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

forty  different  schools  in  the  Western  States, 
all  writing  him  letters  and  requesting  answers. 
He  sent  to  each  school,  his  brother  tells  us,  some 
stanza  with  signature  and  good  wishes.  He  was 
patient  even  with  the  gentleman  who  wrote  to 
him  to  request  that  he  would  send  his  autograph 
in  his  "  own  handwriting."  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  had  to  leave  many  letters  unanswered,  even 
by  a  secretary,  in  his  latest  years. 

It  is  a  most  tantalizing  thing  to  know,  through 
the  revelations  of  Mr.  William  Winter,  that 
Longfellow  left  certain  poems  unpublished.  Mr. 
Winter  says :  "  He  said  also  that  he  sometimes 
wrote  poems  that  were  for  himself  alone,  that  he 
should  not  care  ever  to  publish,  because  they 
were  too  delicate  for  publication."  l  Quite  akin 
to  this  was  another  remark  made  by  him  to  the 
same  friend,  that  "  the  desire  of  the  young  poet 
is  not  for  applause,  but  for  recognition."  The 
two  remarks  limit  one  another ;  the  desire  for 
recognition  only  begins  when  the  longing  for 
mere  expression  is  satisfied.  Thoroughly  prac- 
tical and  methodical  and  industrious,  Longfellow 
yet  needed  some  self-expression  first  of  all.  It 
is  impossible  to  imagine  him  as  writing  puffs  of 
himself,  like  Poe,  or  volunteering  reports  of  re- 
ceptions given  to  him,  like  Whitman.  He  said 
to  Mr.  Winter,  again  and  again,  "  What  you 
1  Life,  iii.  356. 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  POET  277 

desire  will  come,  if  you  will  but  wait  for  it." 
The  question  is  not  whether  this  is  the  only  form 
of  the  poetic  temperament,  but  it  was  clearly  his 
form  of  it.  Thoreau  well  says  that  there  is  no 
definition  of  poetry  which  the  poet  will  not  in- 
stantly set  aside  by  defying  all  its  limitations, 
and  it  is  the  same  with  the  poetic  temperament 
itself. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

• 
LONGFELLOW   AS   A    MAN 

LONGFELLOW  always  amused  himself,  as  do 
most  public  men,  with  the  confused  and  contra- 
dictory descriptions  of  his  personal  appearance : 
with  the  Newport  bookseller  who  exclaimed, 
"  Why,  you  look  more  like  a  sea  captain  than  a 
poet !  "  and  a  printer  who  described  him  as  "  a 
hale,  portly,  fine-looking  man,  nearly  six  feet  in 
height,  well  proportioned,  with  a  tendency  to 
fatness ;  brown  hair  and  blue  eyes,  and  bearing 
the  general  appearance  of  a  comfortable  hotel- 
keeper."  More  graphic  still,  and  on  the  whole 
nearer  to  the  facts,  is  this  description  by  an 
English  military  visitor  who  met  him  at  a  recep- 
tion in  Boston  in  1850.  I  happened  upon  the 
volume  containing  it  amid  a  pile  of  literary  lum- 
ber in  one  of  the  great  antiquarian  bookstores 
of  London :  — 

"  He  was  rather  under  the  middle  size,  but 
gracefully  formed,  and  extremely  prepossessing 
in  his  general  appearance.  His  hair  was  light- 
colored,  and  tastefully  disposed.  Below  a  fine 
forehead  gleamed  two  of  the  most  beautiful  eyes 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  MAN  279 

I  had  ever  beheld  in  any  human  head.  One 
seemed  to  gaze  far  into  their  azure  depths.  A 
very  sweet  smile,  not  at  all  of  the  pensively- 
poetical  character,  lurked  about  the  well-shaped 
mouth,  and  altogether  the  expression  of  Henry 
Wordsworth  [sic]  Longfellow's  face  was  most 
winning.  He  was  dressed  very  fashionably  — 
almost  too  much  so ;  a  blue  frock  coat  of  Pari- 
sian cut,  a  handsome  waistcoat,  faultless  panta- 
loons, and  primrose-colored  '  kids '  set  off  his 
compact  figure,  which  was  not  a  moment  still ; 
for  like  a  butterfly  glancing  from  flower  to 
flower,  he  was  tripping  from  one  lady  to  another, 
admired  and  courted  by  all.  He  shook  me  cor- 
dially by  the  hand,  introduced  me  to  his  lady, 
invited  me  to  his  house,  and  then  he  was  off 
again  like  a  humming  bird."  1 

A  later  picture  by  another  English  observer  is 
contained  in  Lord  Ronald  Gower's  "  My  Remi- 
niscences." After  a  description  of  a  visit  to 
Craigie  House,  in  1878,  he  says :  "  If  asked  to 
describe  Longfellow's  appearance,  I  should  com- 
pare him  to  the  ideal  representations  of  early 
Christian  saints  and  prophets.  There  is  a  kind 
of  halo  of  goodness  about  him,  a  benignity  in  his 
expression  which  one  associates  with  St.  John 
at  Patmos  saying  to  his  followers  and  brethren, 
4  Little  children,  love  one  another ! '  .  .  .  Long- 
1  The  Home  Circle,  London,  October,  1850,  iii.  249. 


280     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

fellow  has  had  the  rare  fortune  of  being  thor- 
oughly appreciated  in  his  own  country  and  in 
other  countries  during  his  lifetime  ;  how  different, 
probably,  would  have  been  the  career  of  Byron, 
of  Keats,  or  of  Shelley,  had  it  been  thus  with 
them  !  It  would  be  presumptuous  for  me,  and 
out  of  place,  to  do  more  here  than  allude  to 
the  universal  popularity  of  Longfellow's  works 
wherever  English  is  spoken  ;  I  believe  it  is  not 
an  exaggeration  to  say  that  his  works  are  more 
popular  than  those  of  any  other  living  poet. 
What  child  is  there  who  has  not  heard  of  '  Ex- 
celsior,' or  of  4  Evangeline,'  of  '  Miles  Stan- 
dish,'  or  of  '  Hiawatha '  ?  What  songs  more 
popular  than  4  The  Bridge,'  and  '  I  know  a 
maiden  fair  to  see '  ?  Or  who,  after  reading  the 
'  Psalm  of  Life,'  or  the  '  Footsteps  of  Angels,' 
does  not  feel  a  little  less  worldly,  a  little  less  of  the 
earth,  earthy  ?  The  world,  indeed,  owes  a  deep 
debt  of  gratitude  to  Henry  Wadsworth  Long- 
fellow. .  .  .  Bidding  me  note  the  beauty  of  the 
autumnal  tints  that  make  America  in  the '  fall ' 
look  as  if  rainbows  were  streaming  out  of  the 
earth,  Longfellow  presented  me  with  a  goodly 
sample  of  the  red  and  golden  leaves  of  the  previ- 
ous autumn,  which,  although  dry  and  faded,  still 
glowed  like  gems ;  these  leaves  I  brought  away 
with  me,  and  they  now  form  a  garland  round  the 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  MAN  281 

poet's  portrait  ;  a  precious  souvenir  of  that 
morning  passed  at  Craigie  House."  l 

Lord  Ronald  Gower  then  quotes  the  words 
used  long  since  in  regard  to  Longfellow  by  Car- 
dinal Wiseman,  —  words  which  find  an  appro- 
priate place  here. 

" 4  Our  hemisphere,'  said  the  Cardinal, '  cannot 
claim  the  honor  of  having  brought  him  forth, 
but  he  still  belongs  to  us,  for  his  works  have 
become  as  household  words  wherever  the  Eng- 
lish language  is  spoken.  And  whether  we  are 
charmed  by  his  imagery,  or  soothed  by  his  me- 
lodious versification,  or  elevated  by  the  moral 
teachings  of  his  pure  muse,  or  follow  with  sym- 
pathetic hearts  the  wanderings  of  Evangeline,  I 
am  sure  that  all  who  hear  my  voice  will  join 
with  me  in  the  tribute  I  desire  to  pay  to  the 
genius  of  Longfellow.'  "  2 

"  We  have  but  one  life  here  on  earth,"  wrote 
Longfellow  in  his  diary  ;  "  we  must  make  that 
beautiful.  And  to  do  this,  health  and  elasticity 
of  mind  are  needful,  and  whatever  endangers 
or  impedes  these  must  be  avoided."  It  is  not 
often  that  a  man's  scheme  of  life  is  so  well  ful- 
filled, or  when  fulfilled  is  so  well  reflected  in  his 
face  and  bearing,  tinged  always  by  the  actual 

1  My  Reminiscences,  by  Lord  Ronald  Gower,  American  edi- 
tion, ii.  227,  228. 

2  16.,  American  edition,  ii.  228. 


282     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

mark  of  the  terrible  ordeal  through  which  he 
had  passed.  When  Sydney  Dobell  was  asked 
to  describe  Tennyson,  he  replied,  "If  he  were 
pointed  out  to  you  as  the  man  who  had  written 
the  Iliad,  you  would  answer,  *  I  can  well  believe 
it.":  This  never  seemed  to  be  quite  true  of 
Tennyson,  whose  dark  oriental  look  would  rather 
have  suggested  the  authorship  of  the  Arab  legend 
of  "  Antar  "  or  of  the  quatrains  of  Omar  Khay- 
yam. But  it  was  eminently  true  of  the  pictur- 
esqueness  of  Longfellow  in  his  later  years,  with 
that  look  of  immovable  serenity  and  of  a  be- 
nignity which  had  learned  to  condone  all  hu- 
man sins.  In  this  respect  Turgenieff  alone  ap- 
proached him,  in  real  life,  among  the  literary 
men  I  have  known,  and  there  is  a  photograph 
of  the  Russian  which  is  often  mistaken  for  that 
of  the  American. 

Indeed,  the  beauty  of  his  home  life  remained 
always  visible.  Living  constantly  in  the  same 
old  house  with  its  storied  associations,  surrounded 
by  children  and  their  friends,  mingling  with 
what  remained  of  his  earlier  friends,  —  with  his 
younger  brother,  a  most  accomplished  and  lov- 
able person,  forming  one  of  his  own  family,  and 
his  younger  sister  living  near  him  in  a  house  of 
her  own,  —  he  was  also  easily  the  first  citizen  of 
the  little  University  City.  Giving  readily  his 
time  and  means  to  all  public  interests,  even  those 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  MAN  283 

called  political,  his  position  was  curiously  unlike 
that  of  the  more  wayward  or  detached  poets. 
Later  his  two  married  daughters  built  houses 
close  by  and  bore  children,  and  the  fields  were 
full  of  their  playmates,  representing  the  exuber- 
ant life  of  a  new  generation.  He  still  kept  his 
health,  and  as  he  walked  to  and  fro  his  very 
presence  was  a  benediction.  Some  of  his  old 
friends  had  been  unfortunate  in  life  and  were 
only  too  willing  to  seek  his  door  ;  and  even  his 
literary  enterprises,  as  for  instance  the  "  Poems 
of  Places,"  were  mainly  undertaken  for  their 
sakes,  that  they  might  have  employment  and 
support. 

It  is  a  curious  but  indisputable  fact  that  no 
house  in  Cambridge,  even  in  the  tenfold  larger 
university  circle  of  to-day,  presents  such  a  con- 
stant course  of  hospitable  and  refined  social 
intercourse  as  existed  at  Craigie  House  in  the 
days  of  Longfellow.  Whether  it  is  that  profes- 
sors are  harder  worked  and  more  poorly  paid,  or 
only  that  there  happens  to  be  no  one  so  sought 
after  by  strangers  and  so  able,  through  favoring 
fortune,  to  receive  them,  is  not  clear.  But  the 
result  is  the  same.  He  had  troops  of  friends ; 
they  loved  to  come  to  him  and  he  to  have  them 
come,  and  the  comforts  of  creature  refreshment 
were  never  wanting,  though  perhaps  in  simpler 
guise  than  now.  It  needs  but  to  turn  the  pages 


284     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

of  his  memoirs  as  written  by  his  brother  to  see 
that  with  the  agreeable  moderation  of  French  or 
Italian  gentlemen,  he  joined  their  daintiness  of 
palate  and  their  appreciation  of  choice  vintages, 
and  this  at  a  time  when  the  physiological  stan- 
dard was  less  advanced  than  now,  and  a  judicious 
attention  to  the  subject  was  for  that  reason  better 
appreciated.  His  friends  from  Boston  and  Brook- 
line  came  so  constantly  and  so  easily  as  to  suggest 
a  far  greater  facility  of  conveyance  than  that  of  to- 
day, although  the  real  facts  were  quite  otherwise. 
One  can  hardly  wonder  that  the  bard's  muse  be- 
came a  little  festive  under  circumstances  so  very 
favorable.  His  earlier  circle  of  friends  known 
as  "  the  five  of  clubs  "  included  Professor  Felton, 
whom  Dickens  called  "the  heartiest  of  Greek 
professors;"  Charles  Sumner;  George  S.Hillard, 
Sumner's  law  partner ;  and  Henry  K.  Cleveland, 
a  retired  teacher  an4  educational  writer.  Of 
these,  Felton  was  a  man  of  varied  learning,  as 
was  Sumner,  an  influence  which  made  Felton 
jocose  but  sometimes  dogged,  and  Sumner  elo- 
quent, but  occasionally  tumid  in  style.  Hillard 
was  one  of  those  thoroughly  accomplished  men 
who  fail  of  fame  only  for  want  of  concentration, 
and  Cleveland  was  the  first  to  advance  ideas  of 
school  training,  now  so  well  established  that  men 
forget  their  ever  needing  an  advocate.  He  died 
young,  and  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Howe,  a  man  of  world- 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  MAN  285 

wide  fame  as  a  philanthropist  and  trainer  of 
the  blind,  was  put  in  to  fill  the  vacancy.  All 
these  five  men,  being  of  literary  pursuits,  could 
scarcely  fail  of  occasionally  praising  one  another, 
and  were  popularly  known  as  "  the  mutual  ad- 
miration society ; "  indeed,  there  was  a  tradi- 
tion that  some  one  had  written  above  a  review 
of  Longfellow's  "  Evangeline  "  by  Felton,  to  be 
found  at  the  Athenaeum  Library,  the  condensed 
indorsement,  "  Insured  at  the  Mutual."  At  a 
later  period  this  club  gave  place,  as  clubs  will,  to 
other  organizations,  such  as  the  short-lived  At- 
lantic Club  and  the  Saturday  Club ;  and  at  their 
entertainments  Longfellow  was  usually  present, 
as  were  also,  in  the  course  of  time,  Emerson, 
Holmes,  Lowell,  Agassiz,  Whittier,  and  many 
visitors  from  near  and  far.  Hawthorne  was 
rarely  seen  on  such  occasions,  and  Thoreau  never. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  club  never  included  the 
more  radical  reformers,  as  Garrison,  Phillips, 
Bronson  Alcott,  Edmund  Quincy,  or  Theodore 
Parker,  and  so  did  not  call  out  what  Emerson 
christened  "  the  soul  of  the  soldiery  of  dissent." 
It  would  be  a  mistake  to  assume  that  on  these 
occasions  Longfellow  was  a  recipient  only.  Of 
course  Holmes  and  Lowell,  the  most  naturally 
talkative  of  the  party,  would  usually  have  the 
lion's  share  of  the  conversation  ;  but  Longfellow, 
with  all  his  gentle  modesty,  had  a  quiet  wit  of 


286     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

his  own  and  was  never  wholly  a  silent  partner. 
His  saying  of  Ruskin,  for  instance,  that  he  had 
"grand  passages  of  rhetoric,  Iliads  in  nut- 
shells ;  "  of  some  one  else,  that  "  Criticism  is 
double  edged.  It  criticises  him  who  receives 
and  him  who  gives ;  "  his  description  of  the  con- 
tented Dutch  tradesman  "  whose  golden  face, 
like  the  round  and  ruddy  physiognomy  of  the 
sun  on  the  sign  of  a  village  tavern,  seems  to  say 
4  Good  entertainment  here  ; '  "  of  Venice,  that  "  it 
is  so  visionary  and  fairylike  that  one  is  almost 
afraid  to  set  foot  on  the  ground,  lest  he  should 
sink  the  city ;  "  of  authorship,  that  "  it  is  a  mys- 
tery to  many  people  that  an  author  should  re- 
veal to  the  public  secrets  that  he  shrinks  from 
telling  to  his  most  intimate  friends ;  "  that  "  no- 
thing is  more  dangerous  to  an  author  than  sud- 
den success,  because  the  patience  of  genius  is 
one  of  its  most  precious  attributes  ;  "  that  "  he 
who  carries  his  bricks  to  the  building  of  every 
one's  house  will  never  build  one  for  himself ; " 
—  these  were  all  fresh,  racy,  and  truthful,  and 
would  bear  recalling  when  many  a  brilliant 
stroke  of  wit  had  sparkled  on  the  surface  and 
gone  under.  As  a  mere  critic  he  grew  more 
amiable  and  tolerant  as  he  grew  older,  as  is  the 
wont  of  literary  men ;  and  John  D wight,  then 
the  recognized  head  of  the  musical  brotherhood  of 
Boston,  always  maintained  that  Longfellow  was 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  MAN  287 

its  worst  enerny  by  giving  his  warm  indorsement 
to  the  latest  comer,  whatever  his  disqualifications 
as  to  style  or  skill. 

Holmes  said  of  him  in  a  letter  to  Motley  in 
1873:- 

"  I  find  a  singular  charm  in  the  society  of 
Longfellow,  —  a  soft  voice,  a  sweet  and  cheerful 
temper,  a  receptive  rather  than  aggressive  in- 
telligence, the  agreeable  flavor  of  scholarship 
without  any  pedantic  ways,  and  a  perceptible 
soupQon  of  the  humor,  not  enough  to  startle  or 
surprise  or  keep  you  under  the  strain  of  over- 
stimulation,  which  I  am  apt  to  feel  with  very 
witty  people." 

And  ten  years  later,  writing  to  a  friend  and 
referring  to  his  verses  on  the  death  of  Longfel- 
fellow,  printed  in  the  "Atlantic  Monthly,"  he 
said :  "  But  it  is  all  too  little,  for  his  life  was  so 
exceptionally  sweet  and  musical  that  any  voice 
of  praise  sounds  almost  like  a  discord  after  it." 

Professor  Kolfe  has  suggested  that  he  uncon- 
sciously describes  himself  in  "The  Golden  Le- 
gend," where  Walter  the  Minnesinger  says  of 
Prince  Henry  :  — 

"  His  gracious  presence  upon  earth 
Was  as  a  fire  upon  a  hearth ; 
As  pleasant  song's,  at  morning  sung, 
The  words  that  dropped  from  his  sweet  tongue 
Strengthened  our  hearts  ;  or,  heard  at  night, 
Made  all  our  slumbers  soft  and  light." 


288     HENRY   WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

He  also  points  out  that  this  is  the  keynote  of 
the  dedication  of  "  The  Seaside  and  the  Fire- 
side," the  volume  published  in  1849. 

"  As  one  who,  walking  in  the  twilight  gloom, 

Hears  round  about  him  voices  as  it  darkens, 
And  seeing  not  the  forms  from  which  they  come, 
Pauses  from  time  to  time,  and  turns  and  hearkens  ; 

"  So  walking  here  in  twilight,  O  my  friends ! 

I  hear  your  voices,  softened  by  the  distance, 
And  pause,  and  turn  to  listen,  as  each  sends 

His  words  of  friendship,  comfort,  and  assistance. 

"  Thanks  for  the  sympathies  that  ye  have  shown ! 

Thanks  for  each  kindly  word,  each  silent  token, 
That  teaches  me,  when  seeming  most  alone, 

Friends  are  around  us,  though  no  word  be  spoken." 

In  another  age  or  country  Longfellow  would 
have  been  laurelled,  medalled,  or  ennobled ;  but 
he  has  had  what  his  essentially  republican  spirit 
doubtless  preferred,  the  simple  homage  of  a  na- 
tion's heart.  He  had  his  share  of  foreign  hon- 
ors ;  and  these  did  not  come  from  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  only,  since  in  1873  he  was  chosen  a 
member  of  the  Russian  Academy  of  Sciences, 
and  in  1877  of  the  Spanish  Academy.  At  home 
he  was  the  honored  member  of  every  literary 
club  or  association  to  which  he  cared  to  belong. 
In  the  half -rural  city  where  he  spent  his  maturer 
life  —  that  which  he  himself  described  in  "  Hy- 
perion "  as  "  this  leafy  blossoming,  and  beautiful 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  MAN  289 

Cambridge  "  —  he  held  a  position  of  as  unques- 
tioned honor  and  reverence  as  that  of  Goethe 
at  Weimar  or  Jean  Paul  at  Baireuth.  This 
was  the  more  remarkable,  as  he  rarely  attended 
public  meetings,  seldom  volunteered  counsel  or 
action,  and  was  not  seen  very  much  in  public. 
But  his  weight  was  always  thrown  on  the  right 
side ;  he  took  an  unfeigned  interest  in  public 
matters,  always  faithful  to  the  traditions  of  his 
friend  Sumner ;  and  his  purse  was  always  easily 
opened  for  all  good  works.  On  one  occasion 
there  was  something  like  a  collision  of  opinion 
between  him  and  the  city  government,  when  it 
was  thought  necessary  for  the  widening  of  Brat- 
tle Street  to  remove  the  "  spreading  chestnut- 
tree  "  that  once  stood  before  the  smithy  of  the 
village  blacksmith,  Dexter  Pratt.  The  poet 
earnestly  expostulated ;  the  tree  fell,  neverthe- 
less ;  but  by  one  of  those  happy  thoughts  which 
sometimes  break  the  monotony  of  municipal  an- 
nals, it  was  proposed  to  the  city  fathers  that 
the  children  of  the  public  schools  should  be  in- 
vited to  build  out  of  its  wood,  by  their  small 
subscriptions,  a  great  armchair  for  the  poet's 
study.  The  unexpected  gift,  from  such  a  source, 
salved  the  offence,  but  it  brought  with  it  a  pen- 
alty to  Mr.  Longfellow's  household,  for  the 
kindly  bard  gave  orders  that  no  child  who 
wished  to  see  the  chair  should  be  excluded  ;  and 


290     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

the  tramp  of  dirty  little  feet  through  the  hall 
was  for  many  months  the  despair  of  housemaids. 
Thenceforward  his  name  was  to  these  children  a 
household  word  ;  and  the  most  charming  feature 
of  the  festival  held  on  the  two  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  settlement  of  Cam- 
bridge (December  28,  1880)  was  the  reception 
given  by  a  thousand  grammar-school  children 
to  the  gray  and  courteous  old  poet,  who  made 
then  and  there,  almost  for  the  only  time  in  his 
life,  and  contrary  to  all  previous  expectations, 
a  brief  speech  in  reply. 

On  that  occasion  he  thus  spoke  briefly,  at  the 
call  of  the  mayor,  who  presided,  and  who  after- 
wards caused  to  be  read  by  Mr.  George  Riddle, 
the  verses  "  From  My  Arm-Chair,"  which  the 
poet  had  written  for  the  children.  He  spoke  as 
follows :  — 

MY  DEAR  YOUNG  FRIENDS,  —  I  do  not  rise 
to  make  an  address  to  you,  but  to  excuse  myself 
from  making  one.  I  know  the  proverb  says 
that  he  who  excuses  himself  accuses  himself,  — 
and  I  am  willing  on  this  occasion  to  accuse  my- 
self, for  I  feel  very  much  as  I  suppose  some  of 
you  do  when  you  are  suddenly  called  upon  in 
your  class  room,  and  are  obliged  to  say  that  you 
are  not  prepared.  I  am  glad  to  see  your  faces 
and  to  hear  your  voices.  I  am  glad  to  have  this 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  MAN  291 

opportunity  of  thanking  you  in  prose,  as  I  have 
already  done  in  verse,  for  the  beautiful  present 
you  made  me  some  two  years  ago.  Perhaps 
some  of  you  have  forgotten  it,  but  I  have  not ; 
and  I  am  afraid,  —  yes,  I  am  afraid  that  fifty 
years  hence,  when  you  celebrate  the  three 
hundredth  anniversary  of  this  occasion,  this 
day  and  all  that  belongs  to  it  will  have  passed 
from  your  memory ;  for  an  English  philosopher 
has  said  that  the  ideas  as  well  as  children  of 
our  youth  often  die  before  us,  and  our  minds 
represent  to  us  those  tombs  to  which  we  are 
approaching,  where,  though  the  brass  and  marble 
remain,  yet  the  inscriptions  are  effaced  by  time, 
and  the  imagery  moulders  away. 

Again,  upon  his  seventy-fifth  birthday,  there 
were  great  rejoicings  in  the  Cambridge  schools, 
as  indeed  in  those  of  many  other  cities  far  and 
wide. 

Craigie  House,  his  residence,  has  already  been 
described.  In  this  stately  old  edifice  dwelt  the 
venerable  poet,  who  was  usually  to  be  found  in 
his  ample  study,  rich  with  the  accumulations  of 
literary  luxury.  One  might  find  him  seated 
with  Coleridge's  inkstand  before  him,  perhaps 
answering  one  of  the  vast  accumulations  of  let- 
ters from  the  school  children  of  Western  cities 
—  an  enormous  mass  of  correspondence,  which 


292     HENRY  WADS  WORTH  LONGFELLOW 

was  a  little  while  a  delight,  and  then  became 
a  burden.  Before  him  was  a  carved  bookcase 
containing  a  priceless  literary  treasure,  —  the 
various  editions  of  his  works,  and,  which  was 
far  more  valuable,  the  successive  manuscripts 
of  each,  carefully  preserved  and  bound  under 
his  direction,  and  often  extending  to  three 
separate  copies :  the  original  manuscript,  the 
manuscript  as  revised  for  the  printer,  and  the 
corrected  proofs.  More  than  once  his  friends 
urged  him  to  build  a  fireproof  building  for 
these  unique  memorials,  as  Washington  did  for 
his  own  papers  elsewhere;  but  the  calm  and 
equable  author  used  to  reply,  "If  the  house 
burns,  let  its  contents  go  also." 

The  wonder  of  Mr.  Longfellow's  later  years 
was  not  so  much  that  he  kept  up  his  incessant 
literary  activity  as  that  he  did  it  in  the  midst 
of  the  constant  interruptions  involved  in  great 
personal  popularity  and  fame.  He  had  received 
beneath  his  roof  every  notable  person  who  had 
visited  Boston  for  half  a  century ;  he  had  met 
them  all  with  the  same  affability,  and  had  con- 
sented, with  equal  graciousness,  to  be  instructed 
by  Emerson  and  Sumner,  or  to  be  kindly  pat- 
ronized —  as  the  story  goes  —  by  Oscar  Wilde. 
From  that  room  had  gone  forth  innumerable 
kind  acts  and  good  deeds,  and  never  a  word 
of  harshness.  He  retained  to  the  last  his  sym- 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  MAN  293 

pathy  with  young  people,  and  with  all  liberal 
and  progressive  measures.  Indeed,  almost  his 
latest  act  of  public  duty  was  to  sign  a  petition 
to  the  Massachusetts  legislature  for  the  relief 
of  the  disabilities  still  placed  in  that  State  upon 
the  testimony  of  atheists. 

Mr.  Longfellow's  general  health  remained 
tolerably  good,  in  spite  of  advancing  years,  until 
within  about  three  months  of  his  death.  After 
retiring  to  bed  in  apparent  health  one  night,  he 
found  himself  in  the  morning  so  dizzy  as  to  be 
unable  to  rise,  and  with  a  pain  in  the  top  of  his 
head.  For  a  week  he  was  unable  to  walk  across 
the  room  on  account  of  dizziness,  and  although 
it  gradually  diminished,  yet  neither  this  nor  the 
pain  in  the  head  ever  entirely  disappeared,  and 
there  was  great  loss  of  strength  and  appetite. 
He  accepted  the  situation  at  once,  retreated  to 
the  security  of  his  own  room,  refused  all  visitors 
outside  of  the  family,  and  had  a  printed  form 
provided  for  the  acknowledgment  of  letters, 
leaving  his  daughters  to  answer  them.  During 
the  last  three  months  of  his  life  he  probably  did 
not  write  three  dozen  letters,  and  though  he  saw 
some  visitors,  he  refused  many  more.  He  might 
sometimes  be  seen  walking  on  his  piazza,  or  even 
in  the  street  before  the  house,  but  he  accepted 
no  invitations,  and  confined  himself  mainly 
within  doors.  His  seventy-fifth  birthday,  Feb- 


294     HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW 

ruary  27,  was  passed  very  quietly  at  home,  in 
spite  of  the  many  celebrations  held  elsewhere. 
On  Sunday,  March  19,  he  had  a  sudden  attack 
of  illness,  not  visibly  connected  with  his  previous 
symptoms.  It  was  evident  that  the  end  was 
near,  and  he  finally  died  of  peritonitis  on  Friday 
afternoon,  March  24,  1882. 

It  will  perhaps  be  found,  as  time  goes  on,  that 
the  greatest  service  rendered  by  Longfellow  — 
beyond  all  personal  awakening  or  stimulus  ex- 
erted on  his  readers  —  was  that  of  being  the 
first  conspicuous"  representative,  in  an  eminently 
practical  and  hard-working  community,  of  the 
literary  life.  One  of  a  circle  of  superior  menj 
he  was  the  only  one  who  stood  for  that  life 
purely  and  supremely,  and  thus  vindicated  its 
national  importance.  Among  his  predecessors, 
Irving  had  lived  chiefly  in  Europe,  and  Bryant 
in  a  newspaper  office.  Among  his  immediate 
friends,  Holmes  stood  for  exact  science,  Lowell 
and  Whittier  for  reform,  Sumner  for  statesman- 
ship, Emerson  for  spiritual  and  mystic  values ; 
even  the  shy  Hawthorne  for  public  functions  at 
home  and  abroad.  Here  was  a  man  whose  single 
word,  sent  forth  from  his  quiet  study,  reached 
more  hearts  in  distant  nations  than  any  of  these, 
and  was  speedily  reproduced  in  the  far-off  lan- 
guages of  the  world.  Considered  merely  as  an 
antidote  to  materialism,  such  a  life  was  of  in- 


LONGFELLOW  AS  A  MAN  295 

calculable  value.  Looking  at  him,  the  reign  of 
the  purely  materialistic,  however  much  aided  by 
organizing  genius,  was  plainly  seff -limited ;  the 
modest  career  of  Longfellow  outshone  it  in  the 
world's  arena.  Should  that  reign  henceforth 
grow  never  so  potent,  the  best  offset  to  its  most 
arrogant  claims  will  be  found,  for  years  to  come, 
in  the  memory  of  his  name. 


APPENDIX 
I 

GENEALOGY 

[From  Life,  etc.,  by  Samuel  Longfellow,  iii.  421.] 

THE  name  of  Longfellow  is  found  in  the  records 
of  Yorkshire,  England,  as  far  back  as  1486,  and 
appears  under  the  various  spellings  of  Langfellay, 
Langfellowe,  Langfellow,  and  Longfellow.  The  first 
of  the  name  is  James  Langfellay,  of  Otley.  In  1510 
Sir  Peter  Langfellowe  is  vicar  of  Calverley.  In  the 
neighboring  towns  of  Ilkley,  Guiseley,  and  Hors- 
f orth  lived  many  Longfellows,  mostly  yeomen :  some 
of  them  well-to-do,  others  a  charge  on  the  parish ; 
some  getting  into  the  courts  and  fined  for  such 
offences  as  "  cutting  green  wode,"  or  "  greenhow," 
or  "  carrying  away  the  Lord's  wood,"  —  wood  from 
the  yew-trees  of  the  lord  of  the  manor,  to  which  they 
thought  they  had  a  right  for  their  bows.  One  of  the 
name  was  overseer  of  highways,  and  one  was  church- 
warden in  Ilkley. 

It  is  well  established,  by  tradition  and  by  docu- 
ments, that  the  poet's  ancestors  were  in  Horsforth. 
In  1625  we  find  Edward  Longfellow  (perhaps  from 
Ilkley)  purchasing  "  Upper  House,"  in  Horsforth ; 
and  in  1647  he  makes  over  his  house  and  lands  to 


298  APPENDIX 

his  son  William.  This  William  was  a  well-to-do 
clothier  who  lived  in  Upper  House,  and,  besides, 
possessed  three  other  houses  or  cottages  (being  taxed 
for  "4  hearths  "),  with  gardens,  closes,  crofts,  etc. 
He  had  two  sons,  Nathan  and  William,  and  four  or 
five  daughters.  William  was  baptized  at  Guiseley 
(the  parish  church  of  Horsforth),  October  20,  1650. 

The  first  of  the  name  in  America  was  this  Wil- 
liam, son  of  William  of  Horsforth.  He  came  over, 
a  young  man,  to  Newbury,  Massachusetts,  about 
1676.  Soon  after,  he  married  Anne  Sewall,  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  Sewall,  of  Newbury,  and  sister  of  Sam- 
uel Sewall,  afterward  the  first  chief  justice  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. He  received  from  his  father-in-law  a 
farm  in  the  parish  of  Byfield,  on  the  Parker  River.1 
He  is  spoken  of  as  "  well  educated,  but  a  little  wild," 
or,  as  another  puts  it,  "  not  so  much  of  a  Puritan  as 
some."  In  1690,  as  ensign  of  the  Newbury  com- 
pany in  the  Essex  regiment,  he  joined  the  ill-fated 
expedition  of  Sir  William  Phipps  against  Quebec, 
which  on  its  return  encountered  a  severe  storm  in  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  One  of  the  ships  was  wrecked 
on  the  island  of  Anticosti,  and  William  Longfellow, 

1  In  1680  Samuel  Sewall  wrote  to  his  brother  in  England : 
"Brother  Long-fellow's  father  W?  lives  at  Horsforth,  near 
Leeds.  Tell  him  bro.  has  a  son  William,  a  fine  likely  child,  and 
a  very  good  piece  of  land,  and  greatly  wants  a  little  stock  to 
manage  it.  And  that  father  has  paid  for  him  upwards  of  an 
hundred  pounds  to  get  him  out  of  debt."  In  1688  William 
Longfellow  is  entered  upon  the  town  records  of  Newbury  as 
having  u  two  houses,  six  plough-lands,  meadows,"  etc.  The 
year  before,  he  had  made  a  visit  to  his  old  home  in  Horsforth. 


APPENDIX  299 

with  nine  of  his  comrades,  was  drowned.  He  left 
five  children.  The  fourth  of  these,  Stephen  (1),  left 
to  shift  for  himself,  became  a  blacksmith.  He  mar- 
ried Abigail,  daughter  of  Rev.  Edward  Tompson, 
of  Newbury,  afterward  of  Marshfield.  Their  fifth 
child,  Stephen  (2),  born  in  1723,  being  a  bright  boy, 
was  sent  to  Harvard  College,  where  he  took  his  first 
degree  in  1742,  and  his  second  in  1745.  In  this  lat- 
ter year  (after  having  meanwhile  taught  a  school  in 
York)  he  went  to  Portland  in  Maine  (then  Fal- 
mouth),  to  be  the  schoolmaster  of  the  town.1 

He  gained  the  respect  of  the  community  to  such  a 
degree  that  he  was  called  to  fill  important  offices  ; 
being  successively  parish  clerk,  town  clerk,  register 
of  probate,  and  clerk  of  the  courts.  When  Portland 
was  burned  by  Mowatt  in  1775,  his  house  having  been 
destroyed,  he  removed  to  Gorham,  where  he  resided 

1  This  was  the  letter  from  the  minister  of  the  town  inviting 
him:  — 

FALMOUTH,  November  15, 1744. 

SIR, —  We  need  a  school-master.  Mr.  Plaisted  advises  of 
your  being  at  liberty.  If  you  will  undertake  the  service  in 
this  place,  you  may  depend  upon  our  being  generous  and  your 
being  satisfied.  I  wish  you  'd  come  as  soon  as  possible,  and 
doubt  not  but  you  '11  find  things  much  to  your  content. 

Your  humble  ser't, 

THOS.  SMITH. 

P.  S.»  I  write  in  the  name  and  with  the  power  of  the  select- 
men of  the  town.  If  you  can't  serve  us,  pray  advise  us  per 
first  opportunity. 

The  salary  for  the  first  year  was  £200,  in  a  depreciated 
currency. 


300  APPENDIX 

till  his  death,  in  1790.  It  was  said  of  him  that  he 
was  a  man  of  piety,  integrity,  and  honor,  and  that 
his  favorite  reading  was  history  and  poetry.  He  had 
married  Tabitha,  daughter  of  Samuel  Bragdon,  of 
York.  Their  eldest  son,  Stephen  (3),  was  born  in 
1750,  inheriting  the  name  and  the  farm  ;  and  in  1773 
he  married  Patience  Young,  of  York.  He  repre- 
sented his  town  in  the  Massachusetts  legislature  for 
eight  years,  and  his  county  for  several  years  after  as 
senator.  For  fourteen  years  (1797-1811)  he  was 
judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  is  remem- 
bered as  a  man  of  sterling  qualities,  great  integrity, 
and  sound  common-sense.  His  second  child,  Stephen 
(4),  born  in  Gorham  in  1776,  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1798,  studied  law  in  Portland,  and  in  1801 
was  admitted  to  the  Cumberland  Bar,  at  which  he 
soon  attained  and  kept  a  distinguished  position.  In 
1814,  as  a  member  of  the  Federalist  party,  to  whose 
principles  he  was  strongly  attached,  he  was  sent  as  a 
representative  to  the  Massachusetts  legislature.  In 
1822  he  was  elected  representative  to  Congress, 
which  office  he  held  for  one  term.  In  1828  he  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  LL.  D.  from  Bowdoin  College, 
of  which  he  was  a  Trustee  for  nineteen  years.  In  1834 
he  was  elected  President  of  the  Maine  Historical  So- 
ciety. He  died  in  1849,  highly  respected  for  his  in- 
tegrity, public  spirit,  hospitality,  and  generosity.  In 
1804  he  had  married  Zilpah,  daughter  of  General 
Peleg  Wadsworth,  of  Portland.  Of  their  eight  chil- 
dren, Henry  Wadsworth  was  the  second.  He  was 
named  for  his  mother's  brother,  a  gallant  young  lieu- 


APPENDIX  301 

tenant  in  the  Navy,  who  on  the  night  of  September  4, 
1804,  gave  his  life  before  Tripoli  in  the  war  with 
Algiers.  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  was  born 
on  the  27th  February,  1807 ;  graduated  at  Bowdoin 
College  in  1825 ;  in  1829  was  appointed  Professor 
of  Modern  Languages  in  the  same  college ;  was  mar- 
ried in  1831  to  Mary  Storer  Potter  (daughter  of 
Barrett  Potter  of  Portland),  who  died  in  1835  ;  in 
1836  was  appointed  Professor  of  Modern  Languages 
and  Belles-Lettres  in  Harvard  College,  which  office 
he  held  till  1854.  He  was  again  married  in  July, 
1843,  to  Frances  Elizabeth  Appleton,  daughter  of 
Nathan  Appleton,  of  Boston.  She  died  in  1861. 
Their  children  were  Charles  Appleton,  Ernest  Wads- 
worth,  Frances  (who  died  in  infancy),  Alice  Mary, 
Edith,  and  Anne  Allegra.  He  died  on  the  24th 
March,  1882. 


302 


APPENDIX 


EDWAHD  LONGFELLOW,  of  Horsforth. 

William, 
b.  1620  ; 
d.  1704. 

I 

Nathan, 
d.  1687. 

William,           Mary, 
b.  1650  ;  em.        Isabella 
to  America  ; 
m.  10  Nov.,  1676 
to  Anne  Sewall  ; 
d.  31  Oct.,  1690. 
1 

Jcy. 
Martha. 

William.    Stephen, 
d.  in 
infancy. 

1                     1                                  1 
Anne.       Stephen  (1),              Elizabeth,        Nathan. 
b.  22  Sept.,  1685  ;            m.  Benj. 
m.  13  Mar.,  1713  to        Woodman. 
Abigail  Tompson  ; 
d.  17  Nov.,  1764. 
1 

William. 
Ann. 
Edward. 
Sarah. 

Stephen  (2), 
b.  7  Feb.,  1723  ; 
(H.  C.,  1742) 
(Portland,  1745); 
m.  19  Oct.,  1749 
to  Tabitha  Bragdon  ; 
d.  Gorham,  1  May,  1790. 

Samuel. 
Abigail. 
Elizabeth. 
Nathan. 

Stephen  (3), 
b.  3  Aug.,  1750  ; 
m.  13  Dec.,  1773 
to  Patience  Young  ; 
d.  Gorham,  1824. 

Samuel. 
Tabitha. 
Abigail. 

Tabitha, 
m.  Lothrop  Lewis. 

Stephen  (4),            Abigs 
b.  23  Mar.,  1776;        m.  Sa 
(H.  C.,  1798)         Stephei 
m.  1  Jan.,  1804 
to  Zilpah  Wadsworth  ; 
d.  ,  Aug.,  1849. 

lil,           Ann. 
ml.          Catherine, 
ison.       Saniuel. 

Stephen  (5), 
d.1850. 

Henry  W.         Elizabeth.   Alex.W.   Ellen, 
b.  27  Feb.,  1807;     Anne.          Mary.        Saml. 

m.  (1)  Sept.,  1831 
to  Mary  S.  Potter ; 

(2) 13  July,  1843 
to  Frances  E.  Appleton ; 

d.  24  Mar.,  1882. 


APPENDIX  303 

II 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

[This  does  not  include  detached  poems  or  his  youth- 
ful prose  contributions,  but  begins  with  his  first  pub- 
lished volume.] 

1830. 

Elements  of  French  Grammar.  Translated  from 
the  French  of  C.  F.  L'Homorid.  Portland. 

[Editor.]  Manuel  de  Proverbes  Dramatiques. 
Portland.  With  a  long  preface  in  French  by  the 
Editor. 

[Editor.]  Novelas  Espafiolas.  Portland.  With 
an  original  preface  in  Spanish. 

1831. 

Origin  and  Progress  of  the  French  Language. 
Article  in  North  Am.  Rev.,  32.  277.  April. 

1832. 

Defence  of  Poetry.  North  Am.  Rev.,  34.  56. 
January. 

History  of  the  Italian  Language  and  Dialects. 
North  Am.  Rev.,  35.  283.  October. 

Syllabus  de  la  Grammaire  Italienne.  Written  in 
French.  Boston. 

[Editor.]     Cours  de  Langue  Fran£aise.     Boston. 

[Editor.]  Saggi  de'  Novellieri  Italiani  d'  Ogni 
Secolo:  Tratti  da'  piu  celebri  Scrittori,  con  .brevi 


304  APPENDIX 

Notizie  intorno  alia  Vita   di   ciascheduno.     Boston. 
With  preface  in  Italian  by  the  Editor. 

Spanish  Devotional  and  Moral  Poetry.  North 
Am.  Rev.,  34.  277.  April. 

1833. 

Coplas  de  Don  Jorge  Manrique.  A  translation 
from  the  Spanish.  Boston. 

Spanish  Language  and  Literature.  North  Am. 
Rev.,  36.  316.  April. 

Old  English  Romances.  North  Am.  Rev.,  37. 
374.  October. 

1835. 

Outre-Mer ;  a  Pilgrimage  beyond  the  Sea.  2  vols. 
New  York. 

1837. 

The  Great  Metropolis.  North  Am.  Rev.,  44.  461. 
April. 

Hawthorne's  Twice-Told  Tales.  North  Am.  Rev., 
45.  59.  July. 

TegneYs  Frithiofs  Saga.  North  Am.  Rev.,  45. 
149.  July. 

1838. 

Anglo-Saxon  Literature.  North  Am.  Rev.  47. 
90.  July. 

1839. 

Hyperion  ;  a  Romance.     2  vols.     New  York. 
Voices  of  the  Night.     Cambridge. 


APPENDIX  305 

1840. 

The  French  Language  in  England.  North  Am. 
Rev.,  51.  285.  October. 

1841. 
Ballads  and  other  Poems.     Cambridge. 

1842. 
Poems  on  Slavery.     Cambridge. 

1843. 

The  Spanish  Student.  A  Play  in  Three  Acts. 
Cambridge. 

1845. 

[Editor.]  The  Waif  :  a  Collection  of  Poems. 
Cambridge.  With  Proem  by  the  Editor. 

[Editor.]  The  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe.  Phil- 
adelphia. 

Poems.     Illustrated.     Philadelphia. 

1846. 

Poems.      Popular  Edition.      New  York. 

The  Belfry  of  Bruges,  and  other  Poems.  Bos- 
ton. 

[Editor.]  The  Estray :  a  Collection  of  Poems. 
Boston.  With  Proem  by  the  Editor. 

1847. 
Evangeline  :  a  Tale  of  Acadie.     Boston. 


306  APPENDIX 

1849. 
Kavanagh :  a  Tale.     Boston. 

1850. 
The  Seaside  and  the  Fireside.     Boston. 

1851. 
The  Golden  Legend.     Boston. 

1855. 
The  Song  of  Hiawatha.     Boston. 

1858. 
The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish.     Boston. 

1863. 
Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn.     Boston. 

1867. 
Flower-de-Luce.     Boston. 

1868. 
The  New  England  Tragedies.     Boston. 

1867-70. 

Dante's   Divine    Comedy.     A   Translation.     Bos- 
ton. 

1871. 
The  Divine  Tragedy.     Boston. 


APPENDIX  307 

1872. 

Christus  :  a  Mystery.     Boston. 
Three  Books  of  Song.     Boston. 

1874. 
Aftermath.     Boston. 

1875. 
The  Masque  of  Pandora,  and  other  Poems.    Boston. 

1876-79. 
[Editor.]     Poems  of  Places.     31  vols.     Boston. 

1878. 
Ke'ramos,  and  other  Poems.     Boston. 

1880. 
Ultima  Thule.     Boston. 

1882. 
In  the  Harbor.     Boston. 

1883. 
Michael  Angelo.     Boston. 

1886. 

A  Complete  Edition  of  Mr.  Longfellow's  Poetical 
and  Prose  Works,  in  11  volumes,  with  introductions 
arid  notes,  was  published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin  & 
Co.,  Boston. 


308  APPENDIX 

III 

TRANSLATIONS    OF   MB.    LONGFELLOW'S   WORKS 

The  following  catalogue  of  translations  of  Mr. 
Longfellow's  works  is  J>ased,  of  course,  upon  that  pre- 
pared by  Mr.  Samuel  Longfellow  for  the  memoir  of 
his  brother.  This  is  here,  however,  revised,  corrected, 
and  much  enlarged,  partly  by  the  addition  of  later 
versions  and  partly  by  others  gathered  from  European 
bibliographies  and  publishers'  lists ;  this  work  being 
aided  by  the  learned  guidance  of  Professor  Wiener  of 
Harvard  University.  Even  with  this  enlargement 
the  list  is  doubtless  quite  incomplete ;  so  widely  scat- 
tered are  these  translations  among  the  periodicals  and 
even  the  schoolbooks  of  different  nations,  and  so  much 
time  and  labor  would  be  required  to  furnish  an  abso- 
lutely complete  exhibit. 

GERMAN 

Longfellow's  Gedichte.  Ubersetzt  von  Carl  Bott- 
ger.  Dessau:  1856. 

Balladen  und  Lieder  von  H.  W.  Longfellow. 
Deutsch  von  A.  R.  Nielo.  Mttnster  :  1857. 

Longfellow's  Gedichte.  Von  Friedrich  Marx. 
Hamburg  und  Leipzig  :  1868. 

Longfellow's  alter e  und  neuere  Gedichte  in  Aus- 
wald.  Deutsch  von  Adolf  Laun.  Oldenburg: 
1879. 

Der  Spanische  Studente.  Ubersetzt  Karl  Bottger. 
Dessau:  1854. 


APPENDIX  309 

The  Same.  Von  Marie  Helene  Le  Maistre. 
Dresden :  n.  d. 

The  Same.    Ubersetzt  von  Hafeli.    Leipzig :  n.  d. 

Evangeline.  Aus  dem  Englischen.  Hamburg : 
1857. 

The  Same.  Aus  dem  Englischen.  Von  P.  J. 
Belke.  Leipzig:  1854. 

The  Same.  Mit  Anmerkungen  von  Dr.  O.  Dick- 
mann.  Hamburg  :  n.  d. 

The  Same.  Eine  Erzahlung  aus  Acadien.  Von 
Eduard  Nickles.  Karlsruhe :  1862. 

The  Same.  In  deutscher  Nachdichtung  von  P. 
Herlth.  Bremen:  1870. 

The  Same.  Ubersetzt  von  Frank  Siller.  Mil- 
waukee:  1879. 

The  Same.  Ubersetzt  von  Karl  Knortz.  Leipzig : 
n.  d. 

Longfellow's  Evangeline.  Deutsch  von  Heinrich 
Viehoff.  Trier:  1869. 

Die  Goldene  Legende.  Deutsch  von  Karl  Keck. 
Wien  :  1859.  Also  Leipzig,  1860. 

The  Same.  Ubersetzt  von  Elise  Freifrau  von 
Hohenhausen.  Leipzig:  1880. 

Das  Lied  von  Hiawatha.  Deutsch  von  Adolph 
Bottger.  Leipzig:  1856. 

The  Same.  Ubersetzt  von  A.  und  K.  Leitz. 
Hannover:  1859. 

Der  Sang  von  Hiawatha.  Ubersetzt  von  Ferdi- 
nand Freiligrath.  Stuttgart  und  Augsburg :  1857. 

Hiawatha.  Ubertragen  von  Hermann  Simon. 
Leipzig:  n.  d. 


310  APPENDIX 

Der  Sang  von  Hiawatlia.  Ubersetzt,  eingeleitet 
und  erklavt  von  Karl  Knortz.  Jena :  1872. 

Miles  Standish's  Brautwerbung.  Aus  dem  Eng- 
lischen  von  F.  E.  Baumgarten.  St.  Louis :  1859. 

Die  Brautwerbung  des  Miles  Standish.  Uber- 
setzt von  Karl  Knortz.  Leipzig  :  18 — . 

Miles  Standish's  Brautwerbung.  Ubersetzt  von 
F.  Manefeld.  1867. 

Die  Sage  von  Konig  Olaf.  Ubersetzt  von  Ernst 
Rauscher. 

The  Same.     Ubersetzt  von  W.  Hertzberg. 

Gedichte  von  H.  W.  L.  Deutsch  von  Alexander 
Neidhardt.  Darmstadt:  1856. 

Hyperion.  Deutsch  von  Adolph  Bottger.  Leip- 
zig :  1856. 

Pandora.  Ubersetzt  von  Isabella  Scbuchardt. 
Hamburg:  1878. 

Morituri  Salutamus.  Ubersetzt  von  Dr.  Ernst 
Schmidt.  Chicago:  1878. 

The  Hanging  of  the  Crane.  Das  Kesselhangen. 
Ubersetzt  von  G.  A.  Ziindt :  n.  d. 

The  Same.  Einhangen  des  Kesseljiakens,  frei 
bearbeitet  von  Joh.  Henry  Becker :  n.  d. 

Sammtliche  Poetische  Werke  von  H.  W.  L.  Uber- 
setzt von  Hermann  Simon.  Leipzig  :  n.  d. 

Longfellow's  Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn  und  ihre 
Quellen,  etc.  Varrihagen :  1884. 

DUTCH 

Evangeline.  Een  verhaal  van  Arcadie,  d.  S.  J. 
van  den  Bergh  en  B.  Ph.  de  Kanter.  Haarlem :  1856. 


APPENDIX  811 

Outre  Mer  en  Kavanagh.  Haar  het  Engelisch, 
B.  T.  L.  Weddik.  Amsterdam  :  1858. 

Het  Lied  van  Hiawatha.  In  het  Nederduitsch 
overgebragt  door  L.  S.  P.  Meijboom.  Amsterdam : 
1862. 

Miles  Standish.  Nagezongen  door  S.  J.  Van  den 
Bergh.  Haarlem:  1861. 

The  Same.  Perpetua.  Oorspronkelijk  dichtstuck, 
en  Miles  Standish  naverteld  ;  door  C.  S.  A.  van 
Scheltema.  Amsterdam  :  1859. 

Longfellow's  Gedighten.  Nagezongen  door  S.  J. 
Van  den  Bergh.  Haarlem  :  1861. 

An  Anthology.  A.  J.  ten  Brink,  H.  W.  Longfel- 
low. Bloemlezing  en  waardeering.  Beverw.  1872. 

J.  J.  L.  ten  Kate  in  A.  Bechger's  Longfellow. 
Met  een  tal  van  Longfellow's  gedichten.  Culemb. 
1883. 

De  Smid  van  het  dorp.  Door  Fiore  della  Neve. 
Amsterdam:  1884. 

[Mr.  Longfellow  speaks  in  a  letter,  dated  Septem- 
ber 26,  1881,  of  having  "received  from  Holland 
translations  in  Dutch  of  Outre-Mer,  Kavanagh  and 
Hyperion ; "  but  I  have  found  no  other  trace  of  such 
a  translation  of  Hyperion.  J.  W.  H.] 

SWEDISH 

Hyperion.   P&  Svenska,  af  J.  W.  GrOnlund.   1853. 

Evangeline:  en  saga  om  karlek  i  Acadien.  P& 
Svenska,  af  Alb.  Lysander.  1854. 

The  Same.  Ofversatt  af  Hjalmar  Edgren.  G5te- 
borg :  1875. 


312  APPENDIX 

The  Same.  Of versatt  af  Philip  Svenson.  Chicago : 
1875. 

Hiawatha.   P&  Svenska  af  A.  G.  Vestberg.    1856. 

The  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe.  Of  versattning 
[af  A.  G.  Vestberg].  1859. 

Valda  Dikter  [selected  poems].  Tolkade  af  Hjal- 
mar  Edgren.  Goteb.  1892. 

DANISH 

Evangeline.  Paa  Norsk,  ved  Sd.  C.  Knutsen, 
Christiania:  1874. 

The  Same,  (et  Digt.)  bearb.  af  B.  S. 

Sangen  om  Hiawatha.  Oversat  af  G.  Bern. 
Kjobenhavn:  1860. 

Den  Gyldne  Legende,  ved  Thor  Lange.  Kjoben- 
havn :  1880  ;  also  1891. 

Fire  Digte.  [four  poems].  Overs,  fra  Engelsk. 
1891. 

Prosavaerker.     Paa  Dansk  ved  E.  M.  Thorson. 

FRENCH 

Evangeline ;  suivie  des  Voix  de  la  Nuit.  Par  le 
Chevalier  de  Chatelain.  Jersey,  London,  Paris, 
New  York:  1856. 

The  Same.  Conte  d'Acadie.  Traduit  par  Charles 
Brunei.  Prose.  Paris:  1864. 

The  Same.  Par  L£on  Pamphile  Le  May.  Qud- 
bec  :  1865.  Also  Quebec,  1870. 

The  Same.  Adaptation  [in  prose]  par  A.  Dubois, 
avec  une  notice  sur  Longfellow.  Limoges :  1889. 

La  Legende  Doree,  et  Poemes    sur   1'Esclavage. 


APPENDIX  313 

Traduits  par  Paul  Blier  et  Edward  Mac-Donnel. 
Prose.  Paris  et  Valenciennes  :  1854. 

Hiawatha.  Traduction  avec  notes  par  M.  H. 
Gomont.  Nancy,  Paris  :  1860. 

Drames  et  Poesies.  Traduits  par  X.  Marmier. 
(The  New  England  Tragedies.)  Paris  :  1872. 

Hyperion  et  Kavanagh.  Traduit  de  1'Anglais, 
et  pre'ce'de'  d'une  Notice  sur  1'Auteur.  2  vols.  Paris 
et  Bruxelles :  1860. 

The  Psalm  of  Life,  and  other  Poems.  Tr.  by 
Lucien  de  la  Rive  in  Essais  de  Traduction  Poetique. 
Paris:  1870. 

ITALIAN 

Alcune  Poesie  di  Enrico  W.  Longfellow.  Tradu- 
zione  dall'  Inglese  di  Angelo  Messedaglia.  Padova : 
1866.  Also  Torino,  1878. 

Lo  Studente  Spagnitolo.  Prima  Versione  Metrica 
di  Alessandro  Bazzini.  Milano  :  1871. 

The  Same.  Traduzione  di  Nazzareno  Trovanelli. 
Firenze:  1876. 

Poesie  sulla  Schiavitu.  Tr.  in  Versi  Italian!  da 
Louisa  Grace  Bartolini.  Firenze:  1860.  [Other 
poems  by  Longfellow  translated  by  the  same  lady 
were  included  in  her  volume  entitled  Baron  Ma- 
caulay.  Canti  di  Roma  Antica,  1869.] 

Evangelina.  Tradotta  da  Pietro  Rotondi.  Fi- 
renze:  1856. 

The  Same.  Traduzione  di  Carlo  Faccioli.  Ve- 
rona :  1873. 

La  Leggenda  d'  Oro.  Tradotta  da  Ada  Corbellini 
Martini.  Parma:  1867. 


314  APPENDIX 

II  Canto  d1  Hiawatha.  Tr.  da  L.  G.  Bartolini. 
Frammenti.  Firenze :  1867. 

Miles  Standish.  Traduzione  dalT  Inglese  di  Cate- 
rino  Frattini.  Padova :  1868. 

Liriche  e  Novelle.  Tradotte  da  C.  Faccioli. 
Firenze:  1890. 

Uccelletti  di  Passo.  [Birds  of  Passage.]  Dall' 
Inglese  di  H.  W.  Longfellow.  Rovigo  :  1875. 

Excelsior.    Traduzione  dalP  Inglese.     A.  Tebaldi. 

PORTUGUESE 

El  Rei  Roberto  de  Sicilia.  Tr.  by  Dom  Pedro 
II.,  Emperor  of  Brazil.  Autograph  MS. 

Evangelina.  Traduzida  por  Franklin  Doria.  Rio 
de  Janeiro :  1874. 

The  Same.  Poema  de  Henrique  Longfellow. 
Traducido  por  Miguel  Street  de  Arriaga.  Lisbon  : 
n.  d. 

SPANISH 

Evangelina.  Romance  de  la  Acadia.  Traducido 
del  Ingles  por  Carlos  M<5rla  Vicuna.  Neuva  York  : 
1871. 

The  Same.  Traduccidn  de  D.  Alvaro  L.  Ndfiez. 
Barcelona.  Tipolitografia  del  Comercio.  1895. 

POLISH 

Evangelina.  Przeldzona  na  jezyk  Poliski  przez. 
A.  Ch.  [A.  Chodzko?]  Poznari.  1851. 

Zlota  Legenda.  The  Golden  Legend.  Tr.  into 
Polish  by  F.  Jerzierski.  Warszawa  :  1857. 


APPENDIX  315 

Evangelina.  Tr.  into  Polish  by  Felix  Jerzier- 
ski.  Warszawa  :  1857. 

Duma  o  Hiawacie  [The  Song  of  Hiawatha.]  Tr. 
into  Polish  by  Feliksa  Jerzierskiego.  Warszawa: 
1860. 

Excelsior,  z  Longfellowa  przelozyl.  El  .  .  .  y  (in 
Pamietnik  str.  87-88). 

BOHEMIAN 

Piseh  o  Hiavate.     Prelozil  J.  V.  Sladek.     1882. 
Evangelina.      Povidka     Akadska\     Prelozil     P. 
Sobotka.     1877. 

HUNGARIAN 

Hiavata.     Forditotta  Tamdsfi  Gy.     1885. 
Az  Arany  Legenda.     Forditotta  Janosi  GusztaV. 
1886. 

RUSSIAN 

Poem  of  Hiawatha.     Moscow,  1878. 

Excelsior,  and  Other  Poems.    St.  Petersburg :  n.  d. 

OTHER  LANGUAGES 

Hiawatha,  rendered  into  Latin,  with  abridgment. 
By  Francis  William  Newman.  London  :  1862. 

Excelsior.  Tr.  into  Hebrew  by  Henry  Gersoni. 
n.  d. 

A  Psalm  of  Life.  In  Marathi.  By  Mrs.  H.  I. 
Bruce.  Satara:  1878. 

The  Same.  In  Chinese.  By  Jung  Tagen.  Writ- 
ten on  a  fan. 


316  APPENDIX 

The  Same.  In  Sanscrit.  By  Elihu  Burritt  and 
his  pupils.  MS. 

Judas  Maccabceus,  a  prose  translation  in  Judea- 
German.  Odessa,  1882. 

[The  above  list  does  not  include  reprints  of  Long- 
fellow in  the  English  language  published  in  foreign 
countries ;  as,  for  instance,  Evangeline  published  in 
Sweden  in  the  Little  English  Library;  Poems  and 
fragments  selected  by  Urda,  published  at  Amsterdam, 
Holland,  and  various  editions  of  Hyperion  and  other 
works  in  German  editions,  as  mentioned  in  the  intro- 
duction to  this  book.] 

IV 

A  VISIT  TO  HIAWATHA'S  PEOPLE 

The  following  narrative  of  the  reception  given  to 
the  Longfellow  family  by  the  Ojibway  Indians  was 
prepared  by  Miss  Alice  M.  Longfellow  for  the  River- 
side Literature  Series,  and  is  used  by  permission. 

When  the  idea  of  writing  an  Indian  poem  began 
first  to  take  form  in  Mr.  Longfellow's  mind,  he  fol- 
lowed the  adventures  of  Manabozho  (a  mythical  char- 
acter, whose  exploits  figure  largely  in  all  Ojibway 
legends)  and  gave  his  name  to  the  poem  ;  but  feeling 
the  need  of  some  expression  of  the  finer  and  nobler 
side  of  the  Indian  nature,  he  blended  the  supernatural 
deeds  of  the  crafty  sprite  with  the  wise,  noble  spirit 
of  the  Iroquois  national  hero,  and  formed  the  charac- 
ter of  Hiawatha. 


APPENDIX  317 

Early  in  the  last  century  the  scattered  bands  of  the 
Ojibways  who  had  their  home  near  Lake  Superior 
and  Lake  Huron,  with  their  principal  village  at  Gar- 
den River  in  Algoma,  not  far  from  Sault  Ste.  Marie, 
were  ruled  over  by  Chief  Shingwauk,  a  ruler  of  force 
and  character.  He  held  the  remnants  of  the  tribe 
together,  cherished  their  national  pride,  and  laid  great 
stress  on  the  importance  of  preserving  the  national 
legendary  history.  He  imbued  his  son  Bukwujjiniui 
with  the  same  feeling,  and  carefully  instructed  him 
in  all  the  legendary  lore  of  his  people.  Bukwujjiriini 
became  thus  well  versed  in  these  legends,  and  it  was 
from  him  that  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  who  had  married 
an  Indian  woman,  received  them,  turning  them  into 
English  and  printing  them  in  his  great  work  on  the 
Indians. 

The  old  chief  was  a  fine  specimen  of  the  aboriginal 
red  man,  dignified,  wise,  and  thoughtful,  and  deeply 
beloved  by  his  people.  He  selected  his  nephew, 
George  Kabaoosa  —  or  Daguagonay  —  as  his  succes- 
sor in  continuing  the  legendary  history  of  his  people, 
constantly  repeating  to  him  all  he  had  heard  from 
his  father,  and  this  Kabaoosa  is  now  engaged  in  writ- 
ing out  all  these  legends  to  preserve  them  for  pos- 
terity. In  addition  to  his  knowledge  of  these  tales 
from  his  uncle's  lips,  Kabaoosa  had  heard  the  poem 
of  "  Hiawatha  "  read  by  his  Sunday-school  teacher  in 
his  youth. 

In  the  winter  of  1900  a  band  of  Ojibway  Indians 
was  formed  to  illustrate  Indian  life  at  the  Sportsmen's 
Show  in  Boston.  Among  them  was  the  old  chief 


318  APPENDIX 

Bukwujjinini,  and  one  of  the  inducements  he  had  to 
take  the  journey  was  the  hope  of  visiting  the  home 
of  the  writer  who  had  cared  enough  for  the  legends 
of  his  people  to  turn  them  into  poetry.  But  this 
could  not  be,  for  the  old  man,  who  was  over  ninety, 
fell  ill,  and  died  on  the  very  day  the  Indians  were 
to  set  forth,  and  they  took  their  journey  without  their 
father,  and  with  genuine  sorrow  in  their  hearts. 

For  some  time  the  Canadian  gentleman  who  ar- 
ranged the  expedition  had  been  cherishing  the  idea 
of  training  the  Indians  to  perform  scenes  from  "  Hia- 
watha "  in  the  forest  on  the  shores  of  the  "  big  sea 
water."  Kabaoosa  readily  fell  in  with  this  scheme, 
and  after  the  visit  of  the  Indians  to  Mr.  Longfellow's 
home  in  Cambridge  the  plan  rapidly  matured,  and  a 
formal  invitation  was  sent  to  Mr.  Longfellow's  family 
to  be  present  at  the  representation  as  guests  of  the 
Indians.  The  invitation  was  written  on  birch  bark, 
in  Ojibway,  and  was  as  follows :  — 

LADIES  :  We  loved  your  father.  The  memory  of 
our  people  will  never  die  as  long  as  your  father's 
song  lives,  and  that  will  live  forever. 

Will  you  and  your  husbands  and  Miss  Longfellow 
come  and  see  us  and  stay  in  our  royal  wigwams  on  an 
island  in  Hiawatha's  playground,  in  the  land  of  the 
Ojibways  ?  We  want  you  to  see  us  live  over  again 
the  life  of  Hiawatha  in  his  own  country. 

KABAOOSA. 
WABUNOSA. 

BOSTON,  Onahbaunegises, 

The  month  of  crusts  on  the  snow. 


APPENDIX  319 

The  invitation  was  cordially  accepted,  and  in  Au- 
gust the  party  of  guests,  twelve  in  all,  left  the  train 
at  Desbarats  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Huron; 
there  they  were  met  by  the  Indians  in  full  costume, 
and  in  sailboat  and  canoes  they  set  forth  for  the  little 
rocky  island,  which  had  been  prepared  for  them. 
There  was  a  square  stone  lodge  on  the  highest  part 
of  the  island,  most  picturesquely  finished  inside  and 
out,  with  the  flag  of  England  floating  above  it.  Sur- 
rounding this  were  several  tepees  of  tanned  hide  and 
stained  canvas,  and  nearer  the  shore  two  little  groups 
of  tents,  where  two  Indian  families  lived,  who  cooked 
and  served,  sailed  the  boats,  entertained  their  guests 
with  songs,  dancing,  and  story-telling,  doing  all  with 
a  quiet  dignity,  ease  of  manner,  and  genuine  kindli- 
ness that  removed  every  difficulty. 

The  play  of  "  Hiawatha  "  was  performed  on  a  rocky, 
thickly  wooded  point  about  two  miles  away.  Near 
the  shore  a  platform  was  built  around  a  tall  pine-tree, 
and  grouped  around  this  were  tepees  and  wigwams 
forming  the  Indian  village.  Behind  this  the  ground 
sloped  gradually  upward,  forming  a  natural  amphi- 
theatre. 

As  a  prelude  to  the  play  a  large  pile  of  brushwood 
was  lighted. 

"  And  the  smoke  rose  slowly,  slowly, 
As  a  signal  to  the  Nations." 

Down  the  hillsides   rushed  the  braves  in  war-paint 
and  feathers,  — 

"  Wildly  glaring  at  each  other, 
In  their  hearts  the  feuds  of  ages. 


320  APPENDIX 

Then  upon  the  ground  the  warriors 
Threw  their  weapons  and  their  war-gear, 
Leaped  into  the  rushing  river, 
Washed  the  war-paint  from  their  faces, 
And  in  silence  all  the  warriors 
Broke  the  red  stone  of  the  quarry, 
Smoothed  and  formed  it  into  Peace-Pipes." 

Then  appeared  old  Nokomis  leading  by  the  hand 
the  youthful  Hiawatha,  and  taught  him  how  to  shoot 
the  bow  and  arrow,  while  the  warriors  stood  around 
watching  and  applauding  when  he  hit  the  mark. 

The  third  scene  was  the  journey  of  Hiawatha  in 
his  manhood  after  his  battle  with  Mudjekeewis,  a 
picturesque  figure  striding  through  the  woods  flecked 
with  sunshine  and  shadow. 

"  Only  once  his  pace  he  slackened, 
Paused  to  purchase  heads  of  arrows 
Of  the  ancient  arrow-maker." 

The  wigwam  of  the  ancient  arrow-maker  was 
placed  far  from  the  rest  in  the  shade  of  the  trees,  to 
give  an  idea  of  distance.  The  arrow-maker  himself, 
a  very  old  man,  sat  by  the  entrance,  cutting  arrow- 
heads ;  his  daughter,  a  modest  Indian  maiden,  stood 
beside  him  with  downcast  eyes,  while  the  stranger 
paused  to  talk  with  her  father. 

This  scene  was  followed  by  the  return  of  Hiawatha 
to  the  land  of  the  Dakotahs.  Again  the  old  man  sat 
in  the  doorway,  and  by  him  was  Minnehaha,  "  plait- 
ing mats  of  flags  and  rushes." 

"  Then  uprose  the  Laughing  Water, 
Laid  aside  her  mat  unfinished, 


APPENDIX  321 

Brought  forth  food,  and  set  before  them, 
Gave  them  drink  in  howls  of  bass  wood." 

She  stood  modestly  on  one  side  while  Hiawatha 
urged  his  suit,  and  then  putting  her  hand  in  his,  she 
followed  him  home  through  the  forest. 

Then  came  the  wedding  dances,  full  of  life  and 
spirit,  the  figures  moving  always  round  and  round  in 
a  circle,  with  a  swaying  motion,  the  feet  scarcely 
lifted  from  the  ground.  Under  the  pine-tree,  tall 
and  erect,  with  head  and  eyes  uplifted,  stood  the 
musician,  chanting  his  songs  with  a  strange  rhythmi- 
cal cadence,  and  accompanying  them  on  the  flat 
Indian  drum. 

The  old  Nokomis  in  one  corner  guarded  with  a 
war-club  a  group  of  maidens  who  were  dancing  all 
the  while,  and  the  braves  circling  round  slyly  stole 
one  maiden  after  another,  until  Nokomis  was  left 
alone.  Then  followed  the  caribou  dance,  the  dancers 
with  arms  uplifted  like  horns,  knocking  and  striking 
one  another ;  the  bear  dance,  with  its  clumsy,  heavy 
motion;  and  the  snake  dance,  where  the  dancers 
wound  and  twisted  in  and  out,  round  and  round ;  and 
always  the  singer  continued  his  rhythmic  chant. 

Last  came  the  gambling  dance,  the  favorite  with 
the  actors.  A  mat  of  rushes  was  placed  on  the 
ground,  and  on  each  side  kneeled  the  contestants. 
At  the  back  stood  the  old  singer,  drumming  and 
chanting  advice  to  the  players.  On  each  side  were 
grouped  the  women  watching  the  game,  their  bodies 
swaying  in  time  to  the  music,  while  the  players  grew 
more  and  more  excited,  arms,  heads,  bodies  all  mov- 


322  APPENDIX 

ing  in  perfect  rhythm,  calling  out  and  shouting  as 
one.  by  one  pouches,  knives,  belts,  etc.,  were  passed 
to  the  winning  side.  One  side  hid  a  small  metal 
counter  under  one  of  two  moccasins,  while  the  other 
side  tried  to  find  it. 

This  game  was  interrupted  by  a  sudden  shout,  and 
across  the  water  was  seen  approaching  a  canoe,  and 
seated  in  it  the  missionary,  "  the  black  robe  chief,  the 
prophet."  On  the  shore  he  was  graciously  received 
by  Hiawatha,  and  led  to  a  wigwam  for  refreshment 
and  repose.  Then  he  addressed  the  attentive  tribes 
in  Ojibway,  — 

"  Told  his  message  to  the  people, 
Told  the  purport  of  his  mission." 

Thereupon  Hiawatha  arose,  greeting  the  mission- 
ary, took  farewell  of  all  his  people,  and  — 

"  On  the  clear  and  luminous  water 
Launched  his  birch  canoe  for  sailing." 

With  hands  uplifted  he  glided  slowly  out  upon  the 
lake,  floating  steadily  onward  across  the  rippling 
water  toward  the  setting  sun. 

"  And  the  people  from  the  margin 
Watched  him  floating,  rising,  sinking, 
Till  the  birch  canoe  seemed  lifted 
High  into  that  sea  of  splendor. 
And  they  said,  '  Farewell,  forever  !  '  * 

Said,  '  Farewell,  0  Hiawatha.'  " 

A  beautiful  ending  to  a  most  unique  and  interesting 
drama  of  the  forest,  with  the  broad  stretch  of  the  lake 
in  front,  and  the  forest  trees  closing  in  the  scene. 
After  this  followed  an  evening  of  songs  and  dan- 


APPENDIX  323 

cing,  addresses  of  welcome  in  Ojibway  to  the  pale- 
face strangers,  and  then  the  return  of  the  guests  to 
the  little  island,  quietly  sailing  in  the  starlight,  while 
the  Indians  sang  their  favorite  hymns  in  the  strange 
Ojibway  tongue.  The  next  day  being  Sunday,  all 
the  Indians  gathered  on  the  island,  where  a  church 
was  improvised,  and  a  simple  service  was  held  in 
their  native  tongue  by  the  English  clergyman  from 
Garden  River,  who  had  impersonated  the  missionary 
in  the  play. 

After  the  service  an  old  man  arose,  welcoming  the 
strangers,  because  their  father  had  written  in  poetry 
the  legends  of  his  people,  and  with  pride  produced  a 
large  silver  medal  given  to  his  ancestors  by  King 
George  III.  as  a  pledge  that  their  rights  should  be 
respected.  "  And,"  he  said,  "  he  told  us  that  as 
long  as  the  sun  shone  the  Indians  should  be  happy, 
but  I  see  the  sun  still  shining,  and  I  do  not  think 
Indians  always  happy.  But  the  medal  he  told  us 
always  to  wear  when  with  persons  of  distinction  ; " 
and  with  great  dignity  the  old  man  slipped  the  medal 
with  its  broad  blue  ribbon  around  his  neck,  looking 
proud  and  happy. 

The  party  of  strangers  made  a  visit  to  Garden 
River,  the  home  of  the  Indians  for  many  generations, 
wher^  they  were  most  hospitably  received  ;  the  old 
chief's  house  was  opened  for  them,  and  all  his  trea- 
sures displayed. 

A  few  days  before  the  end  of  the  visit,  the  Indians 
were  very  busy  building  a  small  platform  on  the 
island,  and  decorating  it  with  green  boughs,  doing 


324  APPENDIX 

everything  with  much  secrecy.  After  sunset,  when 
the  fire  was  lighted  on  the  rocks  near  by,  the  Indians 
assembled  together,  and  Kabaoosa  as  the  spokesman 
announced  that  they  wished  to  have  the  pleasure  of 
taking  some  of  the  party  into  the  tribe  as  members. 
First  came  the  ladies,  as  their  father  had  turned  the 
O  jib  way  legends  into  verse.  They  were  led  in  turn 
before  Kabaoosa,  who  took  one  of  their  hands  in  his, 
and  made  a  spirited  discourse  in  Ojibway.  Then 
striking  them  three  times  on  the  shoulder,  he  called 
aloud  the  Indian  name  of  adoption,  and  all  the  by- 
standers repeated  it  together.  Then  the  new  mem- 
ber of  the  tribe  was  led  around  the  circle,  and  each 
Indian  came  forward,  grasping  the  stranger  by  the 
hand,  and  calling  aloud  the  new  name.  The  names, 
which  were  valued  names  in  the  tribe,  were  all  chosen 
with  care,  and  given  as  proofs  of  high  regard ;  the 
men  of  the  party  were  honored  as  well  as  the  women. 

Odenewasenoquay,  The  first  flash  of  the  light- 
ning [Miss  Longfellow] ;  Osahgahgushkodawaquay, 
The  lady  of  the  open  plains  [Mrs.  J.  G.  Thorp]  ; 
Daguagonay,  The  man  whom  people  like  to  camp 
near  [J.  G.  Thorp,  Esq.]  ;  and  the  names  of  the  old 
chiefs  Shingwauk,  or  Sagagewayosay  [Richard  Henry 
Dana],  and  Bukwujjinini  [Henry  W.  L.  Dana]. 

The  ceremonies  were  followed  by  much  si.nging 
and  dancing,  of  which  the  Indians  never  tire,  and  the 
following  day  came  the  farewells,  —  farewells  to  the 
broad,  beautiful  lake,  the  islands,  the  sweet  fragrance 
of  the  forest,  and  the  kind  and  devoted  hosts.  With 
many  regrets  the  party  turned  their  faces  eastward, 


APPENDIX  325 

while  the  Indians  accompanied  their  farewells  with  a 
parting  dance. 

"  And  they  said,  '  Farewell  forever  !  * 
Said, '  Farewell,  0  Hiawatha.'  " 

ALICE  M.  LONGFELLOW. 
CAMBRIDGE,  April  6,  1901. 


INDEX 


"ADVERTISES,  The  Boston  Daily," 
41. 

Agamenticus,  131. 

Agassiz,  Louis,  242,  285. 

Alcott,  A.  Bronson,  271,  285. 

Alden,  Capt.  John,  13,  146. 

Alhambra,  the,  50. 

Allen,  Capt.,  46. 

America,  50-52,  65,  71,  73,  90,  91, 
95,  98,  101,  106,  112,  143,  161, 173, 
215,  222,  248,  254-256,  259,  271, 
272 ;  series  of  Annuals  in,  72  ; 
Longfellow  addresses  poets  of,  77. 

American  Antiquarian  Society, 
118  note. 

American  Modern  Language  Asso- 
ciation, 184. 

American  Monthly  Magazine,  the, 
22. 

Amherst  College,  3. 

Amsterdam,  108. 

Andersen,  Hans  C.,  193. 

Andrews,  William  P.,  234  ;  his  paper 
"  On  the  Translation  of  Faust," 
quoted,  233. 

Angler's  Song,  the,  79. 

Antwerp,  161. 

Appleton,  Frances  E.  See  Long- 
fellow, Frances  A. 

Appleton,  Nathan,  121, 171. 

Appleton,  Thomas  G.,  103,  219,  273. 

Arfwedson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  93,  95. 

Arnold,  Mr.,  70. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  6. 

Atchafalaya,  Lake,  195. 

Athenaeum  Library,  285. 

"Atlantic  Monthly,"  the,  cited, 
233  note;  mentioned,  287. 

Auersberg,  Anton  A.,  161. 

Austen,  Mrs.  Sarah,  2G9. 

Austin,  William,  64,  68  and  note. 

Auteuil,  46. 

Bacon,  Lord,  164. 
Baireuth,  289. 
Baltic  Sea,  132. 
Balzac,  Honors'  de,  177. 


Bancroft,  George,  71,  112;  his 
"  History  of  the  United  States," 
mentioned,  143. 

Bandmann,  241,  242. 

Barbauld,  Mrs.  Anna  Letitia,  62, 
63. 

Barlow,  Joel,  23. 

Barnard,  Mr.,  91. 

Bartlett,  Elizabeth.  See  Wads- 
worth,  Elizabeth  B. 

Bartlett  family,  the,  13. 

Beattie,  James,  62. 

Beaugency,  48. 

Becker,  Rudolph  Z.,  161. 

Belgium,  158,  170. 

Bennett,  Dr.,  250. 

Bennoch,  Mr.,  250. 

Bentham,  Mr.,  91. 

Berlin,  98. 

Bernadotte,  King,  94. 

Berryer,  Antoine  Pierre,  47. 

Besse,  239. 

Bierstadt,  Mr.,  221. 

Bigelow,  John,  his  Life  of  Bryant, 
cited,  146  note. 

"  Blackwood's  Magazine,"  194. 

Blair,  Robert,  62. 

Booth,  John  W.,  241. 

Boppard,  158,  170,  193. 

Boston,  1,  4,  19,  23,  45,  67,  69,  72, 
81,  86,  92,  100,  129,  132,  146,  148, 
167,  168,  215,  242,  278,  284,  286, 
292  ;  siege  of,  116 ;  fugitive  slave 
cases  in,  206. 

"  Boston  Herald,"  the,  quoted,  184, 
185. 

Boston  Public  Library,  139  note, 
167  note. 

"  Boston  Quarterly  Review,"  the, 
125,  126  note. 

Bosworth,  Dr.,  111. 

Bowdler,  Miss  Hannah,  62. 

Bowdoin,  Mrs.,  gives  fund  to  Bow- 
doin  College,  45. 

Bowdoin  College,  17,  18,  23,  60,  61, 
73  ;  Longfellow  graduates  from, 
37  ;  becomes  professor  of  modern 


328 


INDEX 


languages  at,  56;  Longfellow's 
salary  at,  64. 

Boxer  (British  brig),  14. 

Bradbury,  James  W.,  19  ;  in  debate 
with  Longfellow,  21. 

Bradley,  Dean,  249. 

Brattle  Street,  or  Tory  Row,  Cam- 
bridge, 117,  289. 

Brattleboro,  Vt.,  161. 

Brewster,  Elder,  13. 

British  Museum,  5. 

Brittany,  158. 

Brock,  Thomas,  249. 

Brookline,  Mass.,  146,  284. 

Brown,  Charles  Brockden,  132,  143. 

Brown,  John,  271. 

Browning,  Robert,  3,  6,  216,  218, 
267  ;  compared  with  Longfellow, 
270  ;  Longfellow  a  student  of,  272, 
273. 

Brownson,  Orestes  A.,  125. 

Bruges,  161. 

Brunswick,  Me.,  18,  64,  69,  82, 100, 
163. 

Bryant,  William  C.,  8,  23,  60,  62, 
64,  80,  112,  142,  265,  294;  his 
early  poems  compared  with  Long- 
fellow's, 24-26  ;  moralizing  of, 
133,  134;  indifferent  to  Long- 
fellow, 145 ;  his  "  Selections  from 
the  American  Poets,"  mentioned, 

Bull,  Ole,  214,  215. 

Burns,  Robert,  7,  8,  62,  188. 

Bushnell,  Rev.  Horace,  his  letter  to 

Longfellow   about    the    "Divine 

Tragedy,"  245,  246. 
Byron,  Lord,  7,  9,  80, 280. 

Cadenabbia,  223. 

Cadmus  (ship),  46. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  38,  40-42,  57,  75, 
82,  84,  116-118,  121,  139,  154,  160, 
169, 172, 179, 181, 182, 187, 192, 203, 
205,  214,  215,  244,  272,  283,  289  ; 
Longfellow's  address  to  the  chil- 
dren of,  55 ;  establishes  himself 
in,  133 ;  Longfellow's  speech  at 
the  anniversary  of,  290,  291  ; 
schools  of,  celebrate  Longfellow's 
seventy-fifth  birthday,  291. 

"  Cambridge  Tribune,"  the,117  note. 

Cambridge,  Eng.,  220,  288. 

Campbell,  Thomas,  7,  62. 

Canova,  Anthony,  34. 

Carey  &  Lea,  51. 

Carey  and  Hart,  166. 

Caribbean  Sea,  266. 

Carlisle,  Eng.,  219. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  87,  90,  92,  259. 


Carlyle,  Mrs.  Thomas,  90,  92. 

Carlyles,  the,  91. 

Carpenter,  Prof.  George  R.,  127  ; 
his  "  Longfellow,"  cited,  127  note, 
166  note. 

Carter,  Mr.  (Longfellow's  teacher), 
15, 17. 

Carter,  James  G.,  23. 

Cervantes,  Miguel  de,  188. 

Chamberlain  Collection  of  Auto- 
graphs, 139  note. 

Channing,  W.  Ellery,  271. 

C  banning,  Rev.  William  E.,  11,  164. 

Chantrey,  Sir  Francis,  90. 

Charles  River,  116,  118. 

Chasles,  Prof.  Philarete,  195 ;  de- 
scribes Longfellow,  196, 197. 

Chaucer,  Geotfrey,  249. 

Chelsea,  Eng.,  90. 

Chivers,  Dr.  Thomas  H.,  145 ;  his 
"Eonchs  of  Ruby,"  mentioned, 
143  ;  quoted,  144. 

"  Christian  Examiner,"  the,  112, 113 
note. 

Christiana,  103. 

"  Christus,"  Longfellow  begins,  236; 
appeared,  242. 

Civil  War,  the,  65. 

Clark,  Mr.,  221. 

Clemens,  Samuel  L.,  198. 

Cleveland,  Henry  R.,  139,  284. 

Cogswell,  Joseph  G.,  71,  81,  82. 

Coleridge,  Samuel  T.,  262,  291 ;  his 
"  Ancient  Mariner,"  mentioned, 
149. 

Coleridge,  Sara,  141. 

Colman,  Samuel,  Longfellow's  letter 
to,  139,  140. 

Cologne,  8. 

"  Columbian  Muse,"  the,  a  collec- 
tion of  poems,  23. 

Como,  Lake  of,  223. 

Concord,  Mass.,  133,  271. 

Condry,  Capt.,  102. 

Congress,  U.  S.,  11,  13. 

Connecticut,  90. 

Conolly,  Rev.  H.  L.,  194, 195. 

Constantinople,  3. 

Cooper,  James  F.,  80,  133. 

Copenhagen,  93,  98,  100,  103,  105, 
106. 

Corby  Castle,  219. 

Corneille,  Pierre,  65. 

Cowley,  Abraham,  249. 

Cowper,  William,  9,  15. 

Craigenputtock,  90. 

Craigie,  Mrs.,  147  ;  Longfellow's 
description  of,  118-120. 

Craigie,  Andrew,  117,  118,  122. 

Craigie  House,  116-123, 272, 279, 281, 


INDEX 


329 


283, 291 ;  resembles  Mt.  Vernonin 
situation,  116 ;  various  occupants 
of,  121 ;  Longfellow's  letter  about 
elms  for,  122,  123. 

Cre"billon,  Prosper  J.,  121. 

"  Cross  of  Snow,"  the,  211,  212. 

Crowninshield,  Clara,  83, 92, 95, 106, 
110. 

Croydon,  Eng.,  88. 

Gushing,  Miss,  61. 

Cushman,  Bezaleel,  17,  60. 

Cutler,  Mr.,  140. 

Cuyp,  Albert,  142. 

Dana,  Richard  H.,  80,  133. 

Dannemora,  iron  mines  of,  97. 

Dante,  214,  230,  234  ;  Longfellow 
translates,  207,  225. 

Dartmouth  College,  17. 

Dawes,  Rufus,  23. 

Delphi,  31. 

Dessau,  "Spanish  Student?'  per- 
formed in,  188. 

Devereux  Farm,  Marblehead,  201. 

Devonshire,  223. 

"  Dial,"  the,  125,  133,  145. 

Dickens,  Charles,  170,  284. 

Diderot,  Denis,  121. 

Digby,  Kenelm  H.,  on  Longfellow, 
142. 

Dobell,  Sydney,  282. 

Dryden,  John,  9,  249. 

Dublin,  Ire.,  167. 

Duxbury,  Mass.,  12. 

Dwight,  John,  286. 

Dwight,  Rev.  Timothy,  14,  23. 

Eden  Hall,  219. 

Edgeworth,  Miss  Maria,  62. 

Edinburgh,  8,  233. 

"  Edinburgh  Review,"  the,  90. 

Edrehi,  Israel,  214. 

Eichhorn,  Prof.,  46. 

Eliot,  Charles  W.,  quoted,  184,  185. 

Eliot,  Samuel  A.,  182. 

Elmwood,  Cambridge,  168. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  1,  6,  75, 164, 
192,  196,  209,  259,  271,  285,  292, 
294;  on  "  Kavanagh,"  199;  his 
influence  upon  literature,  261, 262  ; 
lectures  in  Cambridge,  272. 

England,  7,  12,  33,  71,  72,  101,  167, 
170,  195,  214,  223,  248,  252,  255, 
257,  259,  260,  263 ;  Lake  poets  of, 
9. 

Enterprise  (ship),  14. 

Erskine,  Mr.,  95. 

"  Esther  Wynne's  Love  Letters," 
mentioned,  122. 

Europe,  1,  20,  45,  46,  52,  56,  60,  65, 


71,  73,  78,  84,  86,  87, 101, 104, 120, 

147,  160,  170,  190,  210,  241,  260, 

271,  294. 
Eustaphieve,  Miss,  20. 

Evangeline,"   194,  209,  210,  221, 

258,  280,  285  ;  criticism  on,  197  ; 

publication  of,  200. 
Everett,  Mrs.  Alexander,  50. 
Everett,  Edward,  71,  118,  178. 

Every  Other  Saturday,"  22  note, 

36  note,  64  note. 

Federalists,  the,  11. 

Fellows,  Mrs.,  17. 

Felton,  Prof.  Cornelius  C.,  70,  112, 
119,  139,  146,  156,  162,  168,  272, 
284,  285 ;  aids  Longfellow  in  his 
work,  173,  191. 

Ferguson,  Mr.,  224. 

Fields,  James  T.,  224,  240,  241. 

Fields,  Mrs.  James  T.,  191. 

Florence,  Italy,  223. 

Florian,  John  P.  C.  de,  121. 

"  Footsteps  of  Angels,"  112. 

"  Foreign  Quarterly  Review,"  the, 
mentioned,  168. 

Forster,  John,  168,  241. 

Frazer,  Mr.,  89. 

France,  48,  55,  98,  155,  158,  252, 
259. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  6. 

Freiligrath,  Ferdinand,  161,  193, 
271 ;  on  "  Hiawatha,"  209  ;  Long- 
fellow writes  about  Dante  transla- 
tions to,  225,  226. 

Freneau,  Philip,  23. 

"  Frugal  Housewife,"  the,  121. 

Fuller,  Margaret.   See  Ossoli. 

Fulton,  Robert,  6. 

Furness,  Rev.  W.  H.,  192. 

Furness  Abbey,  219. 

Garrison,  William L.,  285 ;  his  "  Lib- 
erator," mentioned,  163, 166  ;  his 
Memoirs,  cited,  167  note. 

"  Gazette,  United  States  Literary," 
the,  23-26, 29  note,  41 ;  Longfellow 
contributes  to,  27. 

Georgia  (State),  143. 

Germany,  8,  50-52,  65,  71,  98, 125, 
142,  156,  170,  199, 

Gervinus,  George  G. ,  112. 

Gladstone,  William  E.,  221. 

Gloucester,  Mass.,  264. 

Goddard,  William,  97. 

Goethe,  John  Wolfgang  von,  64,  92, 
112,  234,  289;  his  "  Werther," 
mentioned,  120 ;  quoted,  233. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  50,  62. 

Goodrich,    Samuel    G.,     72;     his 


330 


INDEX 


"  Recollections  of  a  Lifetime," 
mentioned,  74. 

Gorges,  Thomas,  131. 

Gongora,  Luis  de,  68. 

Gothenburg,  97,  101-103. 

Gottingen,  52. 

Gower,  Sir  Ronald,  his  "  My  Remi- 
niscences "  quoted,  279-281. 

Graham,  Mr.,  158. 

"Graham's  Magazine,"  164,  193. 

Grant,  General  Ulysses  S.,  6. 

Granville,  Earl,  254  :  offers  Long- 
fellow bust  to  the  Dean,  250,  251. 

Gray,  J.  C.,  86. 

Gray,  Thomas,  62,  252. 

Great  Britain,  8. 

Greece,  31,  33. 

Green,  Priscilla,  210. 

Green,  Samuel  S.,  118  note. 

Greene,  George  W.,  72,  74,  113, 148  ; 
his  "Life  of  Nathanael  Greene," 
quoted,  53,  54 ;  Longfellow  writes 
to,  57,  59,  67,  244. 

Greenleaf,  Mrs.  Mary  (Longfellow), 
92. 

Griffin,  J.,  69. 

Griswold,  Rufus  W.,  his  "Corre- 
spondence," cited,  143  note,  145 
note,  168  note,  192  note. 

Grosvenor,  Edwin  A.,  3. 

Gustavus  III.,  95,  96. 

GustavusIV.,  96. 

Habersham,  Henry  N.  119. 

Haga,  95,  96. 

Hagalund,  96. 

Hall  of  Fame,  the,  6,  248. 

Halleck,  Fitz-Greene,  on  "  Skeleton 
in  Armor,"  141. 

Hamburg,  106,  108. 

Hampshire  County,  Eng.,  12. 

Harper  and  Brothers,  166. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  245. 

Hartford  Convention,  the,  11. 

Harvard  College  or  University,  11, 
12,  46,  57,  156,  159,  184,  215  ; 
library,  70  ;  invites  Longfellow  to 
become  professor,  84,  85;  Long- 
fellow elected  to  professorship  of, 
86 ;  Longfellow  as  an  organizer  in, 
176  ;  early  elective  system  in,  178, 
179 ;  Longfellow's  letters  to  Presi- 
dent and  Fellows  of,  179, 180, 203- 
205 ;  their  reply,  180-182  ;  Long- 
fellow on  elective  system  of,  182, 
183. 

Harvard  College  Papers,  quoted,  84- 
87,  122. 123, 151-160, 179-183,  203- 
206. 


Harvard  Graduates'  Magazine,  71 
note. 

Havre,  46,  158. 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  7,  18,  44,  53, 
64,  68,  133,  134,  193,  198,  209,  272, 
285,294;  his  "  Twice-Told  Tales," 
mentioned,  72,  130  ;  on  "  Voices 
of  the  Night,"  141  ;  married,  162  ; 
suggests  "  Evangeliue  "  to  Long- 
fellow, 194, 195 ;  on  "  Kavauagh," 
199. 

Healy,  George  P.  A.,  223. 

Heard,  Tom,  131. 

Heath,  Mr.,  "  Book  of  Beauty," 
mentioned,  121. 

Heidelberg,  111,  113,  128. 

Herwegh,  Georg,  161. 

"Hiawatha,"  187,  221,  258;  com- 
menced, 208  ;  newspapers  on, 
209. 

Hillard,  George  S.,  168,  284. 

Hilliard,  Gray  &  Co.,  69. 

Hingham,  Mass.,  61. 

Hiram,  Me.,  12. 

Holm,  Saxe,  122. 

Holmes,  Dr.,  Oliver  Wendell,  1,  6, 
57,  68,  146, 197,  273,  285,  294  ;  on 
"  Evangeline,"  194;  on  Longfel- 
low, 287. 

"  Home  Circle,"  the,  quoted,  279. 

Homer,  5,  235. 

Hook,  Theodore,  10. 

Horace,  19,  45. 

Howe,  Dr.  Samuel  G.,  284. 

Howe  family,  214. 

Howells,  William  D.,  126,  198  ;  on 
"  Kavanagh,"  200. 

Hudson  River,  132,  248. 

Hughes,  Mr.,  96. 

Hugo,  Victor,  3,  5, 

Humphreys,  David,  23. 

Hunt,  Helen,  122. 

Huron,  Lake,  209. 

"  Hyperion,"  55,  112,  113,  127,  134, 
137-139,  171,  175,  260,  288  ;  new 
literary  style  in,  70 ;  development 
of,  124 ;  criticism  of,  125,  126 ; 
turgid  rhetoric  of,  128. 

India,  215. 

Indians,  18,  79,  129,  132 ;  Longfel- 
low's plea  for,  21  ;  Longfellow 
plans  poem  about,  207,  208. 

Innsbruck,  223. 

Interlaken,  8. 

Irving,  Washington,  7,  18,  46,  68, 
80,  89,  132,  133,  249  ;  Longfellow 
imitates,  26,  27  ;  speaks  of  Long- 
fellow, 50  ;  his  "  Sketch  Book" 


INDEX 


331 


compared      with      Longfellow's 
"Outre-Mer,"  69-71. 
Italy,  33,  50,  55,  65,  96,  142,  223. 

Jamaica  Plain,  Mass.,  146. 

James,  G.  P.  R.,237. 

Janin,  Jules,  161. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  6. 

Jewett,  Sarah  O.,  198. 

Johnson,  Eastman,  272. 

Jones,  J.  A.,  23. 

Jones,  Sir  William,  43  ;  his  Letters, 

42. 
Joubert,  J.,  his  "Pens<5es,"  quoted, 

235. 

Keats,  John,  280. 
Kemble,  Mrs.,  200. 
Kent,  Duke  of,  118. 
Khayyam,  Omar,  282. 
Kiel,  108. 

Kingsley,  Rev.  Charles,  237. 
"Knickerbocker,"  the,  140. 
Korner,  Charles  Theodore,  64. 
Kossuth,  Louis,  173. 

Lafayette,  Marquis  de,  52. 

Lamartine,  Alphonse  M.  L.  de,  161. 

Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  207. 

Lawton,  William  C.,  234,  266  ;  his 
"  The  New  England  Poets,"  cited, 
234  note,  265  note. 

Lenau,  Nicholas,  161. 

Leopold,  King  of  the  Belgiums,  195. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  6. 

Listen,  Sir  Robert,.  93. 

Liszt,  Abb^  223. 

Liverpool,  Eng.,  219. 

Locke,  John,  55. 

Loire,  the  river,  49. 

London,  2,  8,  87,  88,  91,  92,  103, 105, 
106,  170,  209,  210,  221,  223,  241, 
245,  278. 

Longfellow,  Alexander  W.,  83,  129. 

Longfellow,  Alice  M.,  117  note,  209. 

Longfellow,  Fanny,  201. 

Longfellow,  Frances  A.,  Longfel- 
low's engagement  to,  171,  172  ; 
appearance,  173;  assists  her  hus- 
band, 173;  her  letter  to  Eliza 
Potter,  174,  175 ;  death,  211. 

Longfellow,  Henry  Wadsworth, 
birth  of,  11  ;  youth,  14-18 ;  first 
poem  on  American  subject,  17  ; 
college  life,  18-20 ;  shows  Ameri- 
can feeling  in  his  Commencement 
oration,  21  ;  early  writings,  22  ; 
offers  poems  anonymously,  23 ; 
selections  appear  in  Miscellaneous 


Poems,  23 ;  his  early  poems  com- 
pared with  Bryant's,  24-26  ;  one 
of  his  poems  attributed  to  Bryant, 
27  ;  involuntary  imitation  of  Bry- 
ant, 27  ;  contributes  articles  in 
Irving's  style,  27  ;  letter  to,  from 
Jared  Sparks,  declining  article, 
29,  30  ;  his  "  Our  Native  Writers," 
30-36  ;  graduates  from  Bowdoin, 
37  ;  literature  his  definite  pur- 
pose, 37  ;  writes  to  his  father 
about  his  profession,  38-40,  41, 
43;  father's  reply,  40,  41;  first 
visit  to  Europe  to  prepare  for 
Bowdoin  professorship,  45  ;  writes 
to  his  mother,  46,  47  ;  enjoyment 
of  France,  48-50 ;  begins  his  studies 
in  Germany,  51,  52  ;  beginning  of 
"Outre-Mer,"  55  ;  "Hyperion," 
55  ;  returns  home,  56  ;  becomes 
professor  of  modern  languages  at 
Bowdoin  College,  56 ;  prepares  his 
own  text-books,  57  ;  contributes 
to  the  "  North  American  Review," 
58  ;  publishes  translations,  60  ; 
marries  Mary  S.  Potter,  60  ; 
salary  at  Bowdoin,  64 ;  life  at 
Brunswick,  65,  66 ;  writes  to  G. 
W.  Greene,  67  ;  publishes  sketches 
in  New  England  Magazine,  67  ; 
early  sketches,  68  ;  comparison  of 
the  "  Sketch  Book  "  and  "  Outre- 
Mer,"  69-71 ;  a  puzzle  about  his 
writings,  72-74  ;  his  "Defence  of 
Poetry,"  75-80  ;  project  of  taking 
the  Round  Hill  School,  81,  82 ; 
position  in  regard  to  temperance, 
83  ;  his  wife's  letter  about "  Outre- 
Mer,"  83 ;  letter  inviting  him  to 
become  a  professor  at  Harvard, 
84,  85 ;  his  reply,  85-87  ;  his  first 
book,  87  ;  second  visit  to  Europe, 
87-106  ;  letter  to  his  mother,  97, 
98;  his  wife's  illness  and  death, 
107-111 ;  buries  himself  in  studies, 
112;  returns  home,  113;  his  let- 
ter about  his  wife,  113-115;  settles 
in  Craigie  House,  116  ;  description 
of  Mrs.  Craigie,  118-120  ;  interest 
in  Craigie  estate,  122,  123;  his 
"Hyperion,"  124-134;  his  letter 
to  his  wife's  sister,  129,  130  ;  on 
"  Twice-Told  Tales,"  130-132  ;  his 
desire  for  a  national  literature, 
133;  his  best  piece  of  prose,  135, 
136  ;  literary  projects,  137  ;  letter 
about  "  Hyperion,"  139, 140;  criti- 
cisms of,  141-143 ;  his  relation  with 
Bryant,  145, 146 ;  social  side,  146, 


332 


INDEX 


147  ;  costume  of,  147  ;  suggestions 
for  poems,  149,  150  ;  college  du- 
ties, 150-155;  asks  for  leave  of 
absence,  155,  156 ;  sails  for  Eu- 
rope, 157  ;  asks  for  further  leave 
of  absence,  157, 158  ;  the  "  Spanish 
Student,"  162  ;  returns  home, 
162  ;  anti-slavery  poems,  163-165  ; 
abolitionists  on,  166  ;  Irish  abo- 
litionist on,  167  ;  intimacy  with 
Lowell,  169 ;  announces  his  en- 
gagement and  marriage  to  Frances 
Appleton,  171, 172  ;  aided  in  "  Po- 
ets and  Poetry  of  Europe,"  173  ; 
in  the  class  room,  176-179  ;  letters 
about  college  work,  179-183  ;  let- 
ter about  elective  system,  182, 
183  ;  finds  college  work  mono- 
tonous, 186,  187  ;  writes  about  his 
"  Spanish  Student,"  188,  189;  his 
"  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe," 
189-191 ;  his  fame,  192  ;  "  Evange- 
line,"  194,  195;  compared  with 
Scandinavian  poets,  196,  197  ; 
"Kavanagh,"  198-200;  resigns 
professorship,  202-207  ;  begins 
"Hiawatha,"  208;  writes  "The 
Courtship  of  Miles  Standish," 
210  ;  death  of  his  wife,  211  ; 
shorter  poems,  213-218 ;  sails  for 
Europe,  219  ;  speech  by,  219, 220  ; 
receives  honorary  degree  at  Cam- 
bridge, Eng.,  220,  221;  English 
praise  for,  221-223  ;  receives  hon- 
orary degree  at  Oxford,  223  ;  ar- 
rives home,  223  ;  works  on  Dante 
translation,  225;  friendly  criti- 
cism, 226, 227 ;  comparison  of  early 
with  late  translations,  229-231 ; 
comparison  with  Norton's  trans- 
lation,  231,  232  ;  "  Christus,"  236- 
238,  242,  243  ;  "  New  England 
Tragedies,"  239  ;  requests  for 
autographs,  240,  275,  276;  "The 
Divine  Tragedy,"  244;  criticisms 
of  "The  Divine  Tragedy,"  245, 
246  ;  commemorated  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  248-257  ;  his 
works  essentially  American,  258- 
260  ;  interested  in  loal  affairs, 
260  ;  dislikes  English  criticism  of 
pur  literature,  263,  264 ;  manner 
in  which  his  poems  came  to  him, 
264, 265 ;  his  alterations,  266,  267  ; 
compared  with  Browning,  270  ; 
relations  with  Whittier  and  Em- 
erson, 271,  272 ;  on  Browning,  272, 
273  ;  on  Tennyson,  273  ;  his  table- 
talk,  273-275 ;  unpublished  poems, 
276 ;  descriptions  of,  278,  279 ;  his 


works  popular,  280  ;  Cardinal 
Wiseman  on,  281 ;  resembles  Tur- 
genieif ,  282  ;  home  life,  282-285  ; 
member  of  the  Russian  Academy 
of  Sciences  and  Spanish  Academy, 
288  ;  removal  of  "  spreading 
chestnut-tree  "  and  armchair 
made,  289,  290;  his  speech  at 
Cambridge  anniversary,  290,  291 ; 
his  study,  291,  292  ;  as  a  man, 
292,  293;  sickness,  293;  death, 
294. 

Longfellow,  Mary  S.  P.,  172  ;  school- 
mate of  Longfellow,  60  ;  becomes 
Longfellow's  wife,  60 ;  description 
of,  61 ;  her  books,  62-64 ;  begins 
housekeeping,  66  ;  her  letter 
about  the  Round  Hill  School,  81, 
82  ;  her  letter  about  Longfellow's 
"Outre-Mer,"  83;  her  letters 
about  their  European  trip,  88-106  ; 
her  illness  and  death,  107-111; 
H.  W.  Longfellow's  letter  about, 
113-115 ;  her  journals  destroyed, 
170. 

Longfellow,  Rev.  Samuel,  71,  91, 
92,  106  ;  his  memoir  of  his  bro- 
ther, cited,  30  note,  85  note,  99 
note,  189  note,  191  note,  199  note, 
207  note,  224  note;  quoted,  37, 
38,  41-43,48-52,  113,  124, 126,  141, 

145,  147,  148,  165,  168,  191,  192, 
202,   203,  219-222,  226,  242,  245. 
246,  257,  263,  264,  26G,  276. 

Longfellow,  Stephen,  11,  13,  14,  17, 
97 ;  spelling  of  name,  11 ;  letters 
to,  from  H.  W.  L.  about  his  pro- 
fession, 38-43 ;  his  reply,  40,  41  ; 
Mary  S.  P.  Longfellow's  letter  to, 
98,  99. 

Longfellow,  Judge  Stephen,  appear- 
ance of,  13. 

Longfellow,  William,  12. 

Longfellow,  Zilpah  (Wadsworth), 
11,  87,  99;  description  of,  15; 
Longfellow  writes  to,  46, 47  ;  Mary 
S.  P.  Longfellow's  letter  to,  about 
European  trip,  88-97  ;  H.  W.  L.'s 
letter  to,  97,  98. 

Longfellow  family,  60. 

Longfellow  Memorial  Association, 
121. 

Louis  the  Sixteenth,  47. 

"  Lover's  Seat,"  the,  cited,  143 
note. 

Lowell,  John  A.,  182. 

Lowell,  James  R.,  1,  6,  57,  59,  82, 

146,  192,  197,  211,  223,  228,  248, 
251,  271,  273,  285,  294;  intimacy 
with   Longfellow,  168,    169;    on 


INDEX 


333 


Longfellow's  Dante  translations, 
227  ;  expresses  gratitude  for  honor 
done  to  Longfellow,  251-255  ; 
likes  English  ways,  260,  261, 
Poe's  influence  on,  268 ;  his  lit- 
erary alterations,  269. 

Lowell,  Miss  Sally,  121. 

Lucerne,  8. 

Lugano,  224. 

Lundy,  Benjamin,  his  "  Genius  of 
Universal  Emancipation,"  men- 
tioned, 163. 

Lunt,  George,  165. 

Lyly,  John,  55. 

McHenry,  Dr.  James,  praises  Long- 
fellow, 22. 

McLane,  Mr.,  118. 

Madrid,  50. 

Maine,  11,  17,  208;  Cumberland 
County,  220. 

Maler  River,  the,  93. 

Malherbe,  Francis  de,  191. 

Marienberg,  157,  161,  170. 

Marseilles,  3.  94. 

Marshall,  Emily,  19. 

Marshall-,  Chief  Justice  John,  6. 

Massachusetts,  186  ;  Legislature,  11. 

Mather,  Cotton,  138,239;  his"Mag- 
nalia,"  mentioned,  149. 

Matsys,  Quintin,  161. 

Mayence,  162. 

Mayflower  (ship),  13. 

Medici,  Cosmo  de,  164. 

Mellen,  Mr.,  140. 

Mellen,  Judge,  17. 

Mellen,  Frederic,  17. 

Mellen,  Grenville,  23. 

Menzel,  Charles  Adolphus,  his  "  His- 
tory of  German  Literature,"  men- 
tioned, 1 12. 

Mexico,  263. 

Middleton,  Thomas,  188. 

Milton,  John,  268. 

Mittermaier,  Karl  J.  A.,  112. 

Moliere,  Jean  B.  P.  de,  121,  176. 

Montalvan,  John  P.  de,  188. 

Monti,  Prof.  Luigi,  215. 

Moore,  Thomas,  8,  62. 

More,  Hannah,  15,  121. 

Morris,  William,  6. 

Morton,  Eng.,  219. 

Motley,  John  L.,  287. 

Mt.  Vernon,  position  similar  to 
Craigie  House,  116. 

Mullins,  Priscilla,  146. 

Mussey,  Dr.,  83. 

Nahant,  Mass.,  187,  205,  244. 
Naples,  53,  223. 


New  England,  14,  36,  47,  78,  116, 
131,  199 ;  Longfellow's  plan  of 
sketches  about,  51 ;  traditions  of, 
130;  fugitive  slave  agitation  in, 
186. 

"  New  England  Magazine,"  67  and 
note,  68,  69  note. 

New  York  City,  23,  45,  69,  70,  140, 
149,  164,  188,  219. 

New  York,  149. 

New  York  University,  6. 

"New  York  Independent,"  the,  5 
note. 

"  New  York  Review,"  the,  140. 

Newburyport,  Mass.,  102. 

Ney,  Marshal,  47. 

Niagara,  264. 

Niccolini,  54. 

Nichols,  Rev.  Dr.  Ichabod,  91. 

Nimmo,  William  P.,  8. 

"North  American  Review,"  the, 
mentioned,  29,  87,  134,  137,  258  ; 
quoted,  70,  71,  130-132,  144,  145, 
200  ;  cited,  126  note  ;  Longfellow 
contributes  to,  58,  75-77  ;  criti- 
cism of  Longfellow  in,  70. 

Northampton,  Mass.,  81,  82. 

Norton,  Hon.  Mrs.,  195. 

Norton,  Prof.  Andrews,  109,  192. 

Norton,  Prof.  Charles  E.,  192  ;  on 
Longfellow's  Dante  translation, 
227 ;  his  translation  compared 
with  Longfellow's,  231,  232. 

Nuremberg,  8. 

Oehlenschlaeger,  Adam  G.,  com- 
pared with  Longfellow,  196,  197. 

Ohio,  275. 

Ojibway  chief,  208;  Indians  enact 
"  Hiawatha,"  209. 

Orleans,  48. 

Ossian,  15. 

Ossoli,  Margaret  Fuller,  138, 260  ; 
criticises  Longfellow,  52,  163. 

"  Our  Native  Writers,"  Longfel- 
low's oration,  21,  22 ;  quoted,  30- 
36. 

"  Outre-Mer,"  55,  67,  71,  73,  119, 
121,  124,  193  ;  comparison  of,  with 
Irving's  "  Sketch  Book,"  69,  70  ; 
Mrs.  Longfellow's  letter  about, 
83. 

Oxford,  Eng.,  223,  288. 

Packard,  Prof.  Alpheus,  61. 
Paris,  46-48,  63,  158,  161,  223. 
Parker,  Theodore,  285. 
Parstins,  Theophilus,  23,  27. 
Parsons,  Thomas  W.,  209,  214,  215. 
Paul,  Jean,  199,  289. 


334 


INDEX 


Payne,  John,  131. 

Peabody,  Rev.  O.  W.  B.,  70. 

Percival,  James  Gates,  19,  23,  27, 
145. 

Pfizer,  Ludwig,  his  "  Junggesell," 
mentioned,  149. 

Philadelphia,  Pa.,  22,  51,  132,  164, 
166,  192,  193,  264. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  285. 

Pierce,  Mrs.  Anne  (Longfellow),  91, 
92,  100. 

Pierce,  George  W.,  81,  91,  99,  112. 

Pierpont,  Rev.  John,  145. 

Platen,  Count  von,  191. 

Pliny,  54. 

Plymouth,  Mass.,  12. 

Poe,  Edgar  A.,  6,  10,  142-144,  168, 
259,  267,  269,  276  ;  admiration  of 
Longfellow,  141  ;  influence  of, 
268. 

Pope,  Alexander,  40. 

Portland,  Me.,  11,  13,  14,  19,  57,  60, 
61,  87,  98,  106,  172,  189. 

Portland  Academy,  15-17. 

"  Portland  Gazette,"  the,  22. 

Potomac  River,  116. 

Potter,  Anne  (Storer),  60. 

Potter,  Hon.  Barrett,  60,  63  ;  Long- 
fellow's letter  to,  about  his  wife's 
death,  107-111. 

Potter,  Eliza  A.,  109-111  ;  Long- 
fellow's letter  to,  113-115  ;  Long- 
fellow's letter  to,  announcing  his 
engagement,  172  ;  Frances  Apple- 
ton's  letter  to,  174,  175. 

Potter,  Margaret.  See  Thacher, 
Mrs.  Peter. 

Potter,  Mary  Storer.  See  Long- 
fellow, Mary  S.  P. 

Pratt,  Dexter,  289. 

Prescott,  William  H.,  146,  161  ;  on 
Longfellow's  poems,  149. 

Prothero,  Canon,  presides  at  Long- 
fellow commemoration  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  249  ;  accepts  bust, 
255. 

Pulaski,  Casimir,  Count,  27. 

Pulszky,  Madame,  her  "  White, 
Red,  and  Black,"  cited,  173  note. 

Pushmataha,  79. 

Quincy,  Edmund,  285. 

Quincy,  Josiah,  122,  178 ;  his  letter 
to  Longfellow  offering  professor- 
ship, 84,  85  ;  Longfellow's  letters 
to,  85-87,  155,  157,  158  ;  his  letter 
to  Longfellow  about  absence,  159, 
160. 

Quincy,  Mrs.  Josiah,  133,  158. 

Quincy,  Miss,  158. 


Racine,  Jean,  65,  176. 

Raleigh,  Va.,  82. 

Raynes,  Capt.,  131. 

Reboul,  of  Nimes,  191. 

Reed,  E.  J.,  224. 

Revolution,  American,  the,  12, 117. 

Rhine  River,  131,  170,  193. 

Richter,   Jean  Paul,   64,   112,   113, 

Riddle,  George,  290. 

Riedesel,  Baroness,  117. 

Robert  College,  3. 

Robinson,  Rowland,  198. 

Rolfe,  Prof.  William  J.,  8  ;  on  Long- 
fellow, 287,  288. 

Rome,  132,  148,  215,  223. 

Rosendale,  94. 

Rossetti,  Dante  G.,  190. 

Rotterdam,  107,  111. 

Round  Hill  School,  81. 

Routledge,  Mr.,  245. 

Rubens,  Peter  P.,  161. 

Ruskin,  John,  238,  262,  286;  his 
"  Modern  Painters,"  quoted,  237. 

Russia,  43. 

Russia,  steamer,  219. 

Sachs,  Hans,  234. 

Sacobezon,  an  Indian  chief,  207. 

Sailly,  Madame  de,  47. 

St.  Gothard  Pass,  223. 

Salem,  Mass.,  240. 

Sannazaro,  J.,  54. 

Savannah,  Ga.,  119. 

Scherb,  Emmanuel  V.,  239. 

Schlosser,  Friedrich  Christoph,  112. 

"  Schoolmaster,"  the,  67,  68. 

Scott.  Sir  Walter,  7,  265. 

Scudder,  Horace  E.,  24,  73,  243  ;  his 
"Longfellow  and  his  Art,"  men- 
tioned, 53;  his  "Men  and  Let- 
ters," cited,  54  note ;  quoted, 
261;  his  "Lowell,"  cited,  1G8 
note  ;  on  Longfellow,  269. 

Sebago  Pond,  51. 

Se"vigne,  Madame  de,  121. 

Shakespeare,  William,  2,  5,  8,  32, 
66. 

Shelley,  Percy  B.,  9/262,  280. 

Shepley,  Rev.  David,  19. 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  77;  his  "De- 
fence of  Poesy,"  mentioned,  75. 

Skinner,  Mrs.,  88. 

Solis,  Anthony  de,  188. 

Southey,  Robert,  7,  46. 

Spain,  50,  55,  66,  83. 

Sparks,  Jared,  118,  178  ;  letter  from, 
to  Longfellow,  29,  30. 

"  Spectator,"  the  London,  69. 

Stackelberg,  Baron,  95. 


INDEX 


335 


Stael,  Madame  de,  121. 

Stephensou,  Samuel,  14. 

Stettin,  98. 

Stockoe,  Mr.,  95. 

Stockoe,  Mrs.,  95. 

Stockholm,  90,  92,  96,  97,  102,  103, 
108. 

Storer,  Robert,  101. 

Story,  Judge  Joseph,  11,  86. 

Strasburg,  8. 

Strasburg  Cathedral,  238. 

Sudbury,  Mass.,  214,  215. 

Sumner,  Charles,  57,  80,  146,  147, 
162,  164,  173,  206,  216,  271,  272, 
284,  289,  292,  294;  elected  to 
U.  S.  Senate,  186  ;  on  "  Evange- 
line,"  195 ;  struck  down  in  Sen- 
ate, 240. 

Sweden,  87,  94,  101,  105, 135 ;  Long- 
fellow's opinion  of,  97. 

Swinburne,  A.  C.,  6,  216,  218. 

Switzerland,  8,  113,  171,  223,  263. 

Syinons,  Capt.,  92. 

Talleyrand,  Prince,  118. 

Tasso,  Torquato,  54. 

Taylor,  Bayard,  143,  209. 

Taylor,  Miss  Emily,  62. 

Taylor,  Thomas,  131. 

Tecumseh,  77. 

Tegner,  Esaias,  196  ;  Longfellow's 
review  of  his  "  Frithiof's  Saga," 
134. 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  3,  6,  9,  139,  216- 
218,  270 ;  his  remark  about  short 
poems,  268  ;  his  "Life,"  quoted, 
268 ;  description  of,  282. 

Thacher,  Mrs.  Peter,  109,  111  ;  Long- 
fellow's letters  to,  129,  130,  148, 
169-171. 

Thierry,  Ame'de'eS.  D.,  193. 

Thomson,  James,  8. 

Thoreau,  Henry  D.,  133,  271,  285  ; 
his  definition  of  poetry,  277. 

Thorp,  John  G.,  215. 

Ticknor,  Prof.  George,  57,  71,  75, 
85,  86,  112,  153  ;  Longfellow  dines 
with,  45,  46 ;  resigns  from  Har- 
vard College,  84 ;  attracted  by 
Longfellow's  translations,  87  ; 
elective  system  tried  by,  178. 

"  Token,"  the,  72-74. 

Tolstoi,  Count,  197. 

Tours,  48. 

Treadwell,  Prof.  Daniel,  214. 

Tripoli,  14. 

TrumbuH,  John,  23. 

Turgenieff,  Ivan  S., resembled  Long- 
fellow in  looks,  282. 

Tyrol,  the,  113. 


Uhland,  Johann  L.,  161,  219  ;  his 
"  Das  Gluck  von  Edeuhall,"  men- 
tioned, 149. 

United  States,  116,  240,  250,  251, 
255  ;  Sunmer  elected  to  Senate 
of,  186. 

University  Hall,  Cambridge,  176. 

Upsala,  University  of,  97. 

Van  Winkle,  C.  S.,  69. 

Vassall,  Col.  John,  116. 

Venice,  223,  286.  . 

Vere,  Aubrey  de,  141. 

Vere,  Schele  de,  204. 

Vevey,  241. 

Victoria,  Queen,  118,  221. 

Virgil,  54, 194. 

Virginia,  81,  271. 

Vogelwied,  Walter  von  der,  238, 287. 

"  Voices  of   the  Night,"   138,   177, 

213,  228,   260;  commenced,   137; 

success  of,   141 ;    publication  of, 

145. 
Voltaire,  Francis  M.  A.  de,  112, 120, 

121. 

Wadsworth,  Christopher,  12. 

Wadsworth,  Elizabeth  B.,  12. 

Wadsworth,  Henry,  14. 

Wadsworth,  Miss  Lucia,  97,  99 ; 
Mary  S.  P.  Longfellow's  letter  to, 
100-106. 

Wadsworth,  Gen.  Peleg,  12, 18  ;  ap- 
pearance of,  13. 

Wadsworth,  Zilpah.  See  Longfel- 
low, Zilpah  W. 

Wadsworth  family,  13. 

Wales,  Prince  of,  221. 

Wales,  Henry  W.,  215. 

Walker,  Rev.  James,  178,  203  ;  Long- 
fellow's letters  to,  204-206. 

Ward,  Samuel,  149,  164,  188. 

Wardell,  John,  131. 

Washington,  George,  6,  292 ;  head- 
quarters at  Craigie  House,  116, 
117. 

Washington,  Martha,  117. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  79. 

Webb,  Richard  D.,  criticises  Long- 
fellow's anti-slavery  poems,  167. 

Webster,  Daniel,  6. 

Weimar,  289. 

Weld,  Miss  Emeline,  describes  Mrs. 
Longfellow,  64. 

Wells,  George  W.,  Longfellow  writes 
to,  37. 

Wendell,  Prof.  Barrett,  142;  his 
"  Literary  History  of  America," 
cited,  142  note. 

Wesselhoeft,  Dr.  Robert,  161. 


336 


INDEX 


West  Point,  N.  T.,  18. 

Westminster  Abbey,  service  of  com- 
memoration for  Longfellow  at, 
248-257. 

Weston,  Miss  Anne  W.,  167. 

Weston  MSS.,  cited,  167  note. 

White  Mountains,  51,  132. 

Whitman,  Walt,  6,  10,  276. 

Whittier,  John  Greenleaf,  1,  6,  68, 
134,  168,  258,  265,  267,  285,  294 ; 
thanks  Longfellow  for  his  anti- 
slavery  poems,  167 ;  his  literary 
position,  259  ;  relations  with  Long- 
fellow, 271. 

Wijk,  Mr.,  101-103. 

Wijk,  Mrs.,  102,  103. 

Wilcox,  Carlos,  145. 

Wilde,  Oscar,  292. 


Wilkins,  Mary,  198. 

Willis,  Nathaniel  P.,  8,  19,  89,  90, 

247. 

Windsor  Castle,  221. 
Winter,   William,   on  Longfellow's 

unpublished  poems,  276. 
Winthrop,  R.  C.,  222. 
Wiseman.  Cardinal,  on  Longfellow, 

281. 

Worcester,  Joseph  E.,  121. 
Worcester,  Noah,  63,  64. 
Worcester,  Mass.,  118  note. 
Wordsworth,  William,  7-10,  80,  266. 

York  Cathedral,  224. 
Yorkshire  County,  Eng.,  11. 

Zedlitz,  Joseph  C.,  161. 


ftitoersi&e 

Electrotyped  and  printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &  Co. 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.S.  A. 


AMERICAN   MEN  OF  LETTERS 

THIS  series  of  literary  biographies  is  intended 
to  present  in  a  group  of  lives  of  American 
men  of  letters  a  biographical  history  of  our  litera- 
ture. The  biographers,  being  Americans,  have 
been  generally  familiar  with  the  surrounding  in 
which  their  subjects  lived  and  the  conditions 
under  which  their  work  was  done.  They  have, 
therefore,  been  enabled  to  combine  critical  esti- 
mates with  right  insight  and  sympathetic  under- 
standing. 

The  series  is  distinguished  by  including 
Holmes's  Life  of  Emerson,  Charles  Dudley  War- 
ner's Life  of  Irving,  Professor  Woodberry's  Life 
of  Hawthorne,  and  Thomas  Wentworth  Higgin- 
son's  Life  of  Longfellow.  New  volumes  are 
being  added  as  rapidly  as  may  be,  so  as  to  bring 
the  series  to  a  practical  completeness  and  unity 
within  a  reasonable  period. 

Published  in  1902  :  — 

NATHANIEL  HAWTHORNE.  By  George  E.  Wood- 
berry. 

HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW.  By  Thomas 
Wentworth  Higginson. 

JOHN  GREENLEAF  WHITTIER.  By  George  Rice 
Carpenter. 

16mo,  with  portrait,  $1.10,  net,  each. 


Other  volumes  in  preparation :  — 

JOHN  LOTHROP  MOTLEY.  By  Edward  G.  Bourne. 
FRANCIS  PARKMAN.    By  Henry  D.  Sedgwick,  Jr. 


The  volumes  already  published  are  as  follows :  — 

WILLIAM  CULLEN  BRYANT.     By  John  Bigelow. 
J.  FENIMORE  COOPER.     By  T.  R.  Lounsbury. 
GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS.     By  Edward  Cary. 
RALPH  WALDO  EMERSON.     By  Oliver  Wendell 

Holmes. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.    By  John  Bach  McMaster. 
WASHINGTON    IRVING.       By    Charles     Dudley 

Warner. 
MARGARET   FULLER   OSSOLI.      By  T.  W.  Hig- 

ginson. 

EDGAR  ALLAN  POE.     By  George  E.  Woodberry. 
GEORGE  RIPLEY.     By  0.  B.  Frothingham. 
WILLIAM    GILMORE    SIMMS.      By    William  P. 

Trent. 

BAYARD  TAYLOR.     By  Albert  H.  Smyth. 
HENRY  D.  THOREAU.     By  Frank  B.  Sanborn. 
NOAH  WEBSTER.    By  Horace  E.  Scudder. 
NATHANIEL   PARKER  WILLIS.      By  Henry  A. 

Beers. 

Each  of  the  above  volumes,  16mo,  with  portrait. 
Price,  $1.25. 


HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 
BOSTON    AND     NEW    YORK 


nt  i  DUN  i  u  Tne  circulation  aesK  or  any 
University  of  California  Library 
or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
Bldg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 
2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 

(415)642-6233 
1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books 

to  NRLF 
Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days 

prior  to  due  date 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 

MAY  9     1PR7 


Call  Number: 


®i 


T.W 


L 


16451O 


